


The Beast Tamer

by seeleybooth0



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, I Don't Even Know, Love Triangles, My First Work in This Fandom, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:40:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22176457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seeleybooth0/pseuds/seeleybooth0
Summary: A girl from Earth is suddenly transported to the world of One Piece, by a series of events, she becomes known to the world as the "Beast Tamer", but is it because of her devil fruit, or her ability to tame the beasts of the Whitebeard Pirates?
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Original Character(s), Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Reader, Portgas D. Ace/Original Character(s), Portgas D. Ace/Reader
Comments: 68
Kudos: 271





	1. A New World

“Hey, Elisa! Check out those waves!” Gavin called out to me, looking out at the ocean. I looked at him and then shifted my gaze, following the direction of his hand. 

“Wow, you’re right, those are sick, what do you say we go out and check out a few?” I look towards him. 

“You know we have work to get done here first…” He says, but there’s a twinkle in his eye that I recognize well. 

“Oh come on Boss… We don’t have any customers right now, and even if we did, those waves aren’t beginner waves and you know it. We can just close up for a few hours, until we actually have waves we can teach people with,” I say, pouting at him. His smirk grows as I continue pouting, letting out a last, “Pretty please??” 

“Oh alright fine, but you’re lucky I’m the boss,” he smirks at me, before coming over to plant a kiss on my lips. “Race you to the sea!” 

He takes off running in the direction of the waves, leaving me to grab my board and race to the ocean. We ride the waves for a few hours, but something in the air has me concerned. 

“Hey, Gavin! Look at those clouds, I think it might be time to head in…” I say, getting a little nervous about the darkening skies, but Gavin doesn’t hear me, or isn’t concerned because he just continues riding. 

So, I keep riding the waves, laughing with my loving boyfriend, ignoring the feeling in the back of my head that makes me think we should head back to shore… if only I had listened to it. Because the next thing I know, Gavin and I are wiping out on the wave we just tried to surf on and I black out, feeling myself sink to the bottom of the ocean. 

~.~.~ 

I wake up on a beach, which normally wouldn’t concern me. I wake up pretty often after taking naps on the warm sand. However this time, I don’t remember taking a nap, and nothing here looks anything like my nice little Capitola village. 

I remember wiping out in the ocean, but if anything Gavin or one of the lifeguards on the beach would’ve gotten me and brought me back to our little surf shack. Not to mention the only things I have right now are my bathing suit and wetsuit that I’m wearing, my board, which somehow isn’t damaged, and nothing else. I slowly peel off the now dry wetsuit, which is starting to chafe uncomfortably in the heat, and I decide to take a look around, and maybe find someone with a phone, or if I’m lucky, I might even find Gavin. 

However, the longer I look around the island, the less hope I have, as it doesn’t seem like it’s inhabited by any humans at all. I had no idea there were any islands like this off the coast of California. I walk around the island, exploring the jungle the best I can until it starts to get slightly darker out. I decide it’s time to find some shelter, maybe the little cave I found might work. 

Heading back to the ocean, I grab my wetsuit and my board, find my way to the river leading into the jungle and follow it to the cave that I found earlier. It seems like a good enough place as any to settle in for the night. I hope nothing scary finds me in the middle of the night, and tomorrow maybe I can find something to eat…. 

~.~.~ 

From what I’ve managed to track, it’s been about a week since I landed on this abandoned island. During the day, I look around for fruits in the trees to eat, along with some nuts and things as well. I also sometimes take my board out to the ocean and use sticks and vines to try to get some fish. It doesn’t work very well, but every once in a while I’m lucky enough to get some protein in me. 

At night, I have to quarantine myself in the cave, and stay as far inside as possible, as far away from the jungle as I can. There’s wild animals, predators, there, and I try my best to be as quiet as possible, make as little disturbance in the peace and darkness that are present in this strange place at night. 

Its during these peaceful nights that I think about my parents, my friends… and Gavin. I can only wonder what happened to him, having been wiped out by the same wave. I have no idea where I am, much less where he is. I wonder if any of them are looking for me either… I think these things as I stare up at the stars, more clear here than anywhere I’ve ever seen, even out in the forests when I used to go camping. 

Today is no different than any other day, or I guess I should say it WAS no different. I had some fruit, one of which I had never seen before. It was pretty strange looking and it tasted disgusting. It made me feel a little weird afterwards, but I wrote it off, just hoping the it wasn’t poisonous. After that I came out to the ocean on my board to try to find some more fish. 

I love being out on the sea, something about that salty sea smell, and the breeze going through my hair, and seeing the endless blue laid out in front of me. I take a few moments to just enjoy the calm waves up against my board, before I start trying to use my makeshift net to catch maybe a fish or two. However, this time, it’s not a wave that drags me down, but the net. 

Whatever I had caught in there pulled me off my board with a strength I’ve never experienced from fish before. I crashed downwards, and when I open my eyes, I see what I can only describe as a sea monster. It was huge, blue and black, and staring right at me. I try to use my swimming skills, trying to turn around and swim as fast as I can in the other direction, but it isn’t working. No matter what I try, I just keep drowning. 

As I fall into the sea, all I remember is attempting to scream out, but nothing coming out, so all I can do is pray, ‘Help me…’ 

~.~.~ 

This time when I woke up I wasn’t on the beach, instead I was on the back of the strange sea monster that had stared me down under the sea. 

“Wh-what the hell is happening?” I think to myself, staring at the creature that’s just wading in the water, holding me on it’s back. 

“You needed help..” I hear the voice in my head, a voice I’ve never heard before, causing me to jump up in fright. 

“Be careful, you don’t want to fall in the water, you can’t swim,” the voice said again. 

“What do you mean…” I say in my head, wondering who on earth could be talking to me, “Who are you?” 

“You’re asking me who I am, and yet you’re riding on my back,” making me look at the creature beneath me, “You ate a devil fruit, meaning you gained an ability, and you can no longer swim.” 

“A WHAT?” I exclaim this time out loud. 

The creature chuckles, and then explains to me what devil fruits are (the strange fruit I ate this morning), leading me to ask more questions, about where I am (an empty island in what is called “the Grand Line”), what this creature is (apparently he’s called a “sea king”), and I eventually come to a conclusion. 

“I… don’t think I’m from here…” I say sadly, now laying on my back atop the huge sea king as he floats in the water. 

“I wouldn’t know.. I wasn’t at this island when you first arrived here,” his voice enters my thoughts. I never would have thought he could be so intelligent. 

“Well, the Grand Line or the East or West or whatever Blue’s don’t exist where I come from, and neither do devil fruits or sea kings,” I say. “Although, I suppose a creature like you could exist, so much of our oceans hasn’t been explored yet…” 

“I see… Then I am very sorry for you, thrust into another world, alone, on an empty island,” the creatures voice once again enters my head. 

“So, can all sea kings talk to people like this?” I ask, “And what is this special ‘ability’ I gained from eating that weird fruit earlier?” 

“I don’t know much of the devil fruits, but I do know I am not normally able to communicate with people,” he says, “Thus I would assume that your ability is being able to speak to us, and to a certain extent maybe tame us… I don’t ever hesitate when food is in front of my like I did with you…” 

“Wow… Well, I suppose it’s lucky for me that the devil fruit I ate granted me this ability instead of another, otherwise I’d definitely be a goner…” I think. It’s then that I notice it’s starting to get dark. “I should probably head back into shore, can I maybe see you again tomorrow?” 

“I suppose…” he says, carrying me back to the shallow areas of the water, waiting for me to stand and walk back to the shore. I turn around to watch him dive back to sea, but before he completely disappears he comes back on the surface and then tosses me a few fish. “I thought you might need some of these.” 

I thank him silently as I walk back towards my cave. I notice my surf board and drag it back with me, not that it would really be much help anymore, since I apparently can no longer swim. However, I want to hold onto it, for nostalgia’s sake. 

As I settle in my cave, I flip the board around, and look at the little carving etched into the bottom of my board, just an E + G, with a little heart around it, from one day when Gavin and I were board at the surf shack on a particularly boring day. I think once again about my boyfriend, or I suppose he’s my ex-boyfriend now, since I assume he’s still in our world, and I’m not. 

I think about my life as it used to be, compared to my life now, scavenging in this jungle for food, and speaking to sea monsters with my mind. How did things end up like this? And what on earth (or on the Grand Line?) could possibly happen next? 

~.~.~ 

The next couple of weeks went by in much the same fashion, with me eating things I manage to scavenge from the island, and going to talk to the sea monster, who I now call Shamu, as I thought it was quite cute. 

Shamu told me lots about this world, and I told him about mine, he’d take me for rides on the sea, kind of like surfing, but on a living being instead of a piece of wood. Or sometimes I would go out on my board, knowing he was there to catch me in case I needed it. He helped me figure out my abilities more, although I still didn’t know much about it. 

“So, you never had any kind of real coherent thought before me?” I asked one afternoon, laying on his back staring out at the open sea. 

“No, I had heard words, but I never truly understood them or formulated a response before you, ” he responded, “I suppose it was your reaching out to me that gave me the ability to think and to respond to you.” 

“How strange,” I said, “And I haven’t really been able to communicate with other fish or animals, which is a relief, I don’t know if I’d be able to continue eating the fish if I could hear their little fishy thoughts. Although I also never really tried communicating to another animal, or even sea creature.” 

“I’m afraid I don’t know much about the devil fruits and their abilities honestly,” the Sea King said. 

“You know, if you never knew human language or anything like that before, then how do you know so much about this world, or the existence of devil fruits?” I asked, wondering how a creature who’s language skills should be that of a child managed to understand so thoroughly. 

“I’ve travelled all over in my time, from place to place, and I can sometimes understand bits and pieces of the fishmen as well,” he said, “The rest… I can only attribute to your ability giving me the ability to speak my knowledge.” 

The days went on like this, continued conversations about my abilities, about Shamu’s adventures through the seas, and yet I still never tried to communicate with another animal or creature, too scared of the outcome. After all, what if it didn’t work and I ended up just getting myself hurt? 

However, one evening, I left Shamu a little bit too late. The sun was already setting, and in the jungle only a small amount of light remained. I did my best to stay as quiet as possible, as I walked back to what I now call my home, but a growl to my right stopped me in my tracks. 

There to my right was a huge black panther. Of course I don’t really know the actual healthy size of a regular black panther, but this one definitely seemed bigger than the ones I had seen in the zoo. It was staring at me with glowing yellow eyes, not making a move, just crouched to the ground. I slowly turned my body to face it, taking deep breaths, and figured now was an opportunity to see if my ability worked on land animals as well as those of the sea. 

I slowly put out my hand in front of me, like you would a dog or a cat at the pound, to let them sniff you, and said in the calmest, most soothing voice I could, “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you, look, I’m friendly…” 

“You think I’m scared of such a small human hurting me?” A voice in my head growled back. I gasped, realizing it had worked, but that giving it the ability to understand speech and to speak back to me didn’t necessarily mean it wouldn’t hurt me. 

“No, no of course not,” I quickly corrected, “But I’d really appreciate it if you wouldn’t hurt me…” 

I had no idea what to do, I didn’t have to do this with Shamu, it just kind of happened, and he saved me and it was over, I didn’t have to try to tame it. 

The panther’s eyes narrowed at me, “Why should I spare your life? I must eat as well, it’s simply the circle of life.” 

Trying not to smile at the accidental Lion King reference, I tried to keep my face calm, and my hand positioned where it was as the panther slowly approached me, reaching it’s head out to sniff at my hand calmly, and I swear he was smirking at me on the inside. 

“Well… um… Because I wouldn’t be very tasty??” I ask more than state, attempting to stay still as the panther circles around me, watching me carefully. Then I think of something, “Also, I gave you the ability to speak, or think, or whatever.” 

“Hmmm… interesting…” the panther says, “Well, I didn’t exactly ask for this ability..” 

“Yea, but now you have it, and if you get rid of me, you’ll be all alone with your thoughts and no one else to talk to!” I quickly say, noticing that the panther seems ready to attack at any moment, “And trust me, without anyone to talk to, you get lonely, and you’ll eventually go crazy! It’s not a fun thing to go through.” 

This made the panther stop, “So this ability you have is both a blessing and a curse…” 

“Well… to be honest, I have no idea if you’ll be able to communicate with other humans besides me, but other animals won’t be able to talk to you, and even if you could, there’s no other humans here anyways to talk to,” I say. The panther seems like it’s considering things. 

“I guess your death can wait,” the panther said. “I’ll give you a chance, but remember that I can always change my mind.” 

I slowly stand up a little taller, warily eyeing the still terrifying animal. Then, I motion towards the cave, “Well if you’d like, you can come spend the night with me.” 

“I could kill you in your sleep,” he says, licking his paw languidly, looking like he doesn’t particularly care about anything. 

“You could kill me in my sleep even if I didn’t invite you with me,” I said, “Besides it gets a little cold at night here, and a little extra warmth might be nice.” 

I turn around and start walking towards the cave, thanking my lucky stars I’ve always been pretty good with animals and that I was able to at least by myself some time to gain the panther’s trust. When I arrive at the cave, I’m surprised to see the panther right behind me, not having even heard the patting of it’s paws in the leaves or branches littering the jungle floor. 

“Wow, you’re so quiet…” I say quietly, knowing panthers could be quiet, but not realizing just how silent they could be. He really could have easily killed me at night and I wouldn’t have even known he was there. 

He ignores my comment, sniffing around the cave a bit before setting into a corner and curling slightly into a ball, resting it’s head on its paws and just watching me. 

I start attempting to make a fire, over the last few weeks I’ve gotten better but I definitely still only have about a 60% chance of actually getting a fire to start. It seems like tonight was one of those lucky nights. I take the little half coconut that I’ve been using as a bowl and head over to the river, taking some water out of it and bring it to boil over the fire to clean it. Once I think it’s good enough I take a few sips before bringing it over to the panther. 

He lazily takes a few sips from coconut, before laying his head back down on his paws, and then we just watch each other silently. I wouldn’t call it a comfortable silence, but it also wasn’t awkward or tense either, so I suppose I can’t complain much. 

I decide to hesitantly break the silence, well, in a way, “So, I’m assuming you don’t have a name…” 

While I know their voices only appear in my head like a voice, I can either speak out loud or in my thoughts. I figured since it’s night out, silence on the outside would be best, not wanting to attract any more creatures. 

“No, I’ve never had a reason to have a name before,” the panther answered back, once again licking his paws, but still not taking his wary eyes off of my figure. 

“Well, what do you think of the name Bagheera?” I ask him, remembering the panther from the Jungle Book and figuring it was a good name for him. 

“It makes no difference to me,” the panther answered, this time closing his eyes as he laid his head down. 

“Well, how old are you?” I ask, hoping to learn more about the majestic animal, for he truly was majestic. The yellow eyes are so bright, and his hair is black, not too long, but long enough that I’m tempted to pet him, if I wasn’t so terrified. 

Bagheera simply ignored me this time, leaving his head on his paws. I tried asking him a few more questions, but at his continued ignoring, I decide to leave it alone for now, simply lying down and trying to get comfortable on the hard floor. I’ve been here a few weeks, but I don’t think it’s ever gotten much more comfortable. 

Eventually I manage to doze off to a somewhat peaceful sleep. 

~.~.~ 

The next day, I wake up and go about my routine, making sure the fire is off, eating a small breakfast, and go through a mantra in my head telling me that everything will be alright and that I’ll get out of this mess somehow. 

Bagheera was watching me silently as I went about my morning, even following me into the jungle as I look for fruits and nuts to eat. I have little hope when it comes to hunting, so I simply don’t even try to waste my time on it. Besides the fish that Shamu gives to me are usually enough to keep my not hungry. 

After heading back to the cave and setting the small gathering of food I found aside for later, I look at my board again, smiling sadly as I reach out to touch the little heart carved into it. 

‘What is that?’ Bagheera asks suddenly, ‘I’ve never seen a tree quite like that one...’ 

“It’s not a tree,” I explain, “It’s called a surf board, I use it to ride on the waves out at sea.” 

‘Why have you not used it to get to another island, especially one with people, then?’ he asked me, sitting there looking uninterested despite his question. 

“Well it’s not made for things like that,” I say, “It’s made to just ride the waves for short periods of time. Besides I have no idea where another island could be, and there’s all kinds of other dangers out there that I can’t even begin to imagine. At least here I have some stability...” 

I had thought about asking Shamu to help me get to another island, or riding my board there before I met Shamu, but I had no idea what lurked in these waters, and after Shamu’s brief introduction to the Grand Line, I know it’s not something that I would want to traverse alone. One Sea King compared to many probably wouldn’t stand a chance, not to mention pirates and robbers and whatever else this world offered in terms of danger. 

“Well, I’m headed to sea now,” I said. 

Bagheera stared at me blankly, licking his paw, but followed me anyways as I dragged my board behind me. I may not be able to completely ride the waves as I did before, but I could at least float and talk to Shamu if I didn’t feel like laying on his back. 

“Hey Shamu,” I yelled out, calling for the large sea king. Bagheera eyed me curiously, but didn’t say anything, except until Shamu came out of the water, approaching the shore, very obviously coming towards us. 

Bagheera backed up slowly, ‘Be careful girl, that’s a sea king.’ 

I chuckled as I responded, “Yes, I know, that’s Shamu. He’s the first one that helped me figure out what power I have and that I’m in a different world, but it’s nice to know that you care!” 

Bagheera continued to eye the sea king, and Shamu stared right back at the panther, each eyeing the other down for possible threats. I was planning on waiting patiently for them to finish analyzing each other when something suddenly came into my head. 

“Wait, can you guys... communicate?” I asked, “I mean I know animals have some forms of communication but can sea kings and panthers communicate in that way? Or now that I’m able to talk to you, can you guys also talk to each other or is it just to me? Because hypothetically, you both have a grasp of the language, and you have some level of telepathy so you might actually be able to talk to each other...” 

With each passing word, I got more and more excited, but then Shamu sent my dreams crashing to the ground, ‘We have our basic animal instincts towards each other; however, I do not think we are able to communicate the way that we can with you.’ 

At the same time, Bagheera simply replied with a no, and no other explanation. My hopes were more than a little fallen, as this would make it complicated to be around each other at the same time, but I guess it’s not really that big of a deal. 

‘I see that you’ve tried your ability again,’ Shamu commented, looking again towards the panther, who was now just lying in the sand, eyeing the sea king back just as intently. 

“It wasn’t exactly because I wanted to,” I explain, “Bagheera was going to attack me, so I did the only thing I could think of, which is reason with him, which meant using my ability...” 

‘I see... well, can you tell him that I’m grateful to him for not killing you,’ Shamu answers, turning away from observing the panther. I relay the message to Bagheera, and Bagheera also turns away from the sea king, laying his head on his paws and closing his eyes, not bothering to respond. 

“He didn’t say anything,” I tell Shamu, shrugging, before wading slightly into the water, just enough to grab hold of Shamu’s tail and start climbing up onto his back. It had been a struggle the first few times I went out with Shamu to figure out how to get on, since he couldn’t come in shallow enough for me to hoist myself onto his back, but I also couldn’t swim out to him and climb up that way. 

Together, we had decided his tail was the best option, it was long enough that he could stay in the deeper waters and I could grab onto it and he could either fling me onto his back or pull me through the water close enough to grab on. It made me feel slightly weak during the time my body was partially submerged, but once I came back up, I felt as good as new relatively quickly. Besides, this way I could fully lay down on his back and enjoy the time with him. 

Today, he told me of how he went around the island to search for ships that might be nearby. He mentioned that one was heading in the direction of the island, but that it was still quite far away, and besides that he wasn’t sure if the people on it would actually help me. He seemed almost scared of the ship nearing the island. When you asked why, he simply said that he didn’t know if he would survive if he surfaced near them. 

“Did you get close enough to hear them talking?” I asked. 

‘What do you mean?’ he asked, clearly confused by the topic. 

“I mean, I know you and Bagheera can’t use telepathy like you can with me, but I wonder... if someone were to say something out loud, would you understand it? You can only here MY thoughts, but maybe... you can understand any spoken words...” I say, contemplating the possibilities. 

‘To be honest, I hadn’t thought about it,’ he responded, ‘I’ve seen many sea kings be killed at the hands of the people on that ship, so I hadn’t thought about getting close enough to see if I could understand them...’ 

h, I see, well, don’t do anything that could potentially put you in danger, I don’t know what I’d do then,” I smiled, even though he couldn’t see me, “I’d lose my company and my new surf board.” 

The following days went much the same way, although Bagheera seemed less and less opposed to me and my company with each passing day. I talked to him more, realizing that each animal I granted the ability of speech actually had quite different personalities, even if the small sample size of Shamu and Bagheera were all I really had to go off of. 

Shamu was almost like a fatherly or grandfatherly figure, comfortable and protective, giving advice and helping me to figure out my predicament here. He mentioned the ship he had seen a couple more times in the next week, simply saying it was still within a few hours swim for him, but that was still far longer than I could hope to get to on my surf board, so it remained a non-viable option for an escape plan. 

Bagheera on the other hand was far more cool and collected, although he did enjoy feasting on the fish that Shamu caught. He wasn’t nearly as easy to converse with, and he liked to pretend that he cared very little for my safety, however, he had saved my life once. Another wild animal had been prepped to attack me one night in the jungle, but Bagheera had easily taken it out. I had teased him about it, but he stated it was simply because the other animal was more a nuisance than a threat, and he liked the fish. I still felt like you were getting closer with him, though. 

I had learned that the sea king had a soft spot along the scales on his back, almost like a ticklish spot, that when I rubbed them softly would make him chuckle and squirm just a bit. Bagheera secretly loved when I would scratch behind his ears, something he hadn’t experienced before me, I guessed. At night, I had taken to curling up next to him, using his back as a makeshift pillow and him laying his head down on my belly. 

It was my growing fondness towards both of my unorthodox companions that also had me slightly worried. What would happen if I did somehow find a way off the island? Would I have to leave them behind? Technically Shamu could probably follow me wherever I wound up, but that could put him in a lot of danger, and Bagheera... 

Well for one thing, I didn’t even know if I’d be able to take Bagheera with me. Whoever my rescuers may end up being might not want a deadly panther on their ship. Second of all, Bagheera might not even WANT to come along with me. However, I didn’t want to leave him behind, all alone, with no one to talk to... he would be as lonely as I had been my first few days here, and there probably wouldn’t be anyone that would come around he’d be able to communicate with like I could... 

It was actually when I was thinking about this exact thing, laying in the sand one warm day, while Shamu waded in the water near me and Bagheera stretched out in the sun next to me, when something almost as strange as my devil fruit happened. 

Shamu suddenly ducked under the water disappearing. I could tell he was going further into the sea, but I didn’t pay it any mind until his voice came into my head. 

‘There’s a person out here,’ Shamu called out, ‘Do you want me to save them and bring them to you? Or just leave them here?’ 

‘Bring them here please, I can try to help,’ I thought back frantically to the sea king. I quickly went through all of the basic first aid I had learned. Granted, I had no first aid equipment with me, but I could at least do CPR and a few other things with my very limited supplies. 

Shamu had the stranger on his back, and was bringing him to me. I waded out, grabbing onto his tail, which he quickly wrapped around me, and he dragged me over to his back. I then grabbed onto the stranger before slipping back into the water, allowing Shamu to bring me back to the shallow waters so I could drag the person to shore. 

Bagheera had been ignoring the both of us, but when he saw me struggling, he came to the water’s edge, instructing me to place the stranger on his back, and he helped me get them on the sand. I situated them there before beginning to administer CPR. The first thing was to get them breathing and the water out of their lungs. Luckily Shamu had found them quick enough that I were able to get them spitting up the water fairly quickly. 

Now, though, was the hard part. There was a big gash on their side, it looked like it was from a knife, or maybe a sword? I wasn’t really sure, but I knew I needed to clean it and put something on it to cover it. I asked Bagheera to run back to your cave, knowing he’d be far quicker on his own than if I tried to do it, and grab the half coconut I had been using as a cup, some fire wood, and the rocks I used to start fires. 

I looked at the stranger’s clothing, trying to find something that could work as a bandage. Luckily the stranger, who I had at first thought was a woman, was wearing a kimono with lots of fabric. Yes, the fabric was wet, but it was better than nothing. I tried your best to rip the kimono to make some strips, but I was really struggling. Strength had never exactly been my strong suit. 

Bagheera arrived quickly, and when he saw what I were struggling with, used his teeth to rip the kimono for you. I thanked him, filling the ‘cup’ with water and setting a small fire. I held the cup over the fire, in my best attempt to disinfect the water from whatever may be inside it, and then trying to flush the wound the best as I could to clear away the blood. 

Then, I pressed a part of the kimono into the wound to try to staunch the bleeding. It took a long time, and the number of times I held the stupid cup over the fire, wondering if it was actually accomplishing anything, was endless, but eventually the bleeding slowed down, and I did my best to wrap up the man’s side tightly. Now, all I could really do was wait. 

~.~.~ 

It was the next afternoon that the man woke up. I had taken him back to the cave with me overnight and then brought him back out during the day while I lounged on Shamu’s back. It was Bagheera calling to me from the shore that made me ask Shamu to bring me back to the beach. 

The man was staring between Bagheera and Shamu with calculating eyes, not seeming to notice me at first until I came sliding down Shamu’s tail into the shallow water, something I had been working on with him for a while. It saved a little bit of time, and I didn’t have to hold onto his tail as he dragged me through the ocean, which was a rather unpleasant experience. 

I smiled politely at the man, “Hello... it’s good to see that you’re alive... and awake.” 

I wasn’t really sure how to act, as the man continued eyeing me and the others, and I couldn’t completely read the look in his eyes. Was it shock that I had appeared off the back of a sea king or that the fierce panther was simply lounging beside me while I quickly scratched him behind the ears? Was it fear of the animals that stared at him, without a weapon or any way of defending himself? Was it curiosity towards I, and how I was so comfortable around these creatures that probably should’ve killed me and him if this was a normal situation? 

“Um... Shamu found you falling into the ocean, so he went to save you and brought you here... I did my best to clean and dress your wounds, but I don’t really have any supplies for it, so I’m sorry if it’s not the best... and this is an abandoned island, as far as I know I’m the only human here, but there’s nothing else anywhere nearby, so it was really the only option...” I say awkwardly, trying to get the stranger to answer something back. “Oh! And don’t worry about Bagheera, he won’t hurt you... probably, I mean, I think?” 

‘I have no interest in hurting the human,’ Bagheera said, moving from his sitting position to laying down and closing his eyes again for a nap. 

“Oh, he just confirmed that he won’t hurt you! So, see, nothing to worry about?” I laugh at the end, tapering off into silence when the stranger still doesn’t respond. After several moments of silence, I sit down, still at a reasonable distance from the man, and turn my gaze away from the stranger to look out to the sea, looking over to Shamu, who was looking at the stranger warily, as if worried that he would attack me. I gave him a reassuring smile, pretty confident that things were okay, for now at least. 

“What do you mean?” the stranger asked. 

“Huh?” I quickly look back at him, startled by his sudden question. 

“I need you to explain further everything that you just told me,” he said, looking at me with an extraordinary amount of intensity, but now fully sitting up, looking ready to jump up at any second. I didn’t know how he had the strength with that kind of wound, I felt drained after a paper cut. Okay, well maybe that’s an exaggeration, but still... 

“Oh, right, I suppose I haven’t done a tremendous job of explaining things...” I say, briefly thinking over just how much I want to share with this person. 

On the one hand, he might be able to help me figure out where I am and how to get home, or at least off the island. However, I remember reading books about ‘aliens’, which is basically what I am in this world, being taken in by governments and scientists and experimented on, which would really suck if that happened. Plus, there was my ‘devil fruit’ thingy, although those didn’t seem like a mystery here, I had no idea how rare they were, or maybe they were a mystery, maybe they were supposed to be a secret, but I guess I had kinda already spilled the beans a little bit about having an ability. 

“Well, this is Bagheera,” I say, gesturing to the panther besides you, who doesn’t even open his eyes, “And that over there is Shamu.” 

The sea king spurts a little water towards you playfully, making me shriek a little bit. I guess it was his way of getting me out of my head and to stop freaking out about what I should or shouldn’t tell this guy. So, steeling myself, I look over to the stranger, “And I’m Elisa...”


	2. Izo

“Hello Elisa, it’s nice to meet you,” the man answers her, “You may call me Izo.” 

“Okay so,” Elisa start, “This can get a little... well, complicated, I guess, so I’ll just start at the beginning. I’m not from here.” 

“Well obviously,” he says, rolling his eyes, “This is a deserted island.” 

“No, I mean... I’m not from here at all, like this world,” she says, “At least I’m pretty sure I’m not. I woke up on this island a little while ago, so I haven’t seen the rest of what’s here obviously, but some things don’t add up, like we don’t have sea kings or devil fruits in my world, there’s nothing even like it all!” 

“How would you know what sea kings and devil fruits are if you’re from another world and haven’t left the island since you got here?” he narrows his eyes at the girl suspiciously, taking in every detail, he couldn’t die in a place like this, especially by the hands of some puny little girl. 

“Well-” Shamu immediately cuts Elisa off in her head. 

‘Don’t say too much too quickly, you don’t know if you can trust this person, and admitting to eating a devil fruit tells them one of your biggest weaknesses automatically.’ 

‘Oh... that’s probably a good idea...’ Elisa thinks back to him, looking again at Izo who’s still watching her cautiously, although also curiously. He’s noticed that she seems to cut herself off sometimes, as if something interrupts her, but he doesn’t know what it is. Or maybe she’s just crazy. 

“Well... that’s complicated,” she says slowly, refusing to make eye contact. She’s always known that she’s terrible at lying and keeping big secrets. Plus, to top it off, there is a possibility that this man can help her, whether it’s just to get off this deserted island or to get home, either way, it would help. 

“You already mentioned that things would be complicated,” he says dryly. His eyes roamed over her again, taking in every detail. He could tell that I was keeping a secret, intentionally hiding something from him, he just wasn’t sure what yet. Or again... she might simply be crazy, driven insane by being alone on the island for too long. 

Either way, she presented a risk, especially with him injured, no way of calling for backup, and without any weapons. He would just have to use his charm to his advantage he supposed. He’d assume that he’s the first person that she is speaking to in a while, which would already likely be a relief to her, and he could use that to his advantage, get her to see him as a friend, and not a threat. She was obviously in need of some company seeing as she had been talking to these animals as if they were people. 

Although it is curious that both a sea king and a wild panther would be so calm and not attack either of them, especially with him in this vulnerable of a position. And why would the sea king even bother to bring him to shore instead of eating him in the first place? Maybe there was something larger going on here that he just wasn’t seeing … yet. 

“How long have you been here?” the question caught her off guard. 

She could see his brain working while she watched him watching her. His eyes never left her, and although he seemed to be lost in thought, she had no doubt that if she moved, he would notice, and she wouldn’t get far without his perceiving it. She looked towards Bagheera and Shamu for help, not understanding the change in the line of questioning. 

“Well... it’s been a couple weeks I guess?” she answered, “I’m not completely sure since it’s hard to keep track, but it hasn’t been that long I don’t think...” 

Well that killed his insanity by loneliness theory, but it doesn’t eliminate the possibility that she was just crazy and arrived on the island crazy. She was again looking towards the animals as if she held the answers she needed. And now he felt like he was going crazy as the panther looked at the girl pointedly, before turning to him, rolling his eyes, and then going back to languidly licking his paws. The panther actually rolled his eyes, an action Izo had previously never thought an animal could make. 

"And I suppose you have no way of getting in contact with the outside world?” Izo asked. “I would very much like to get in contact with my crew. Perhaps we could also get you off the island.” 

“Crew?” she asked, “Did you fall off a ship nearby? How long were you in the water for?” 

“Not very long. I believe I had just fallen in before your pet sea king brought me here,” Izo said, wondering how she would respond. He was testing the waters, trying to see how she responded to calling the sea king her pet. He continued, “Maybe he can take us over to my ship together, and we can try to get you an inhabited island at the very least. Maybe then you can find a way home.” 

“I wouldn’t exactly call Shamu my pet, but... the only ship that’s nearby is this big scary ship,” she explained, “Well, I haven’t actually seen it but Shamu usually steers clear of it, there seems to be a lot of scary people on board, so I think it’s best to just stay away. I wouldn’t want to make them angry on accident and then they kill you or Shamu.” 

‘Is this really a good idea girl? What if he’s tricking you into getting onto his ship and then he sells you off or kidnaps you? You should be more careful.’ 

‘It’s okay! I never agreed to actually go with him, I haven’t even decided if I want to, but for now he really should get on a real ship with real doctors, I don’t know how long my basic first aid will help him...’ 

‘What do you think Bagheera? Do you think we should help him find his ship? Should I go with him if he does?’ 

‘I don’t particularly care, seeing as it doesn’t affect me at all.’ 

‘Well, it kind of does... If I leave then you won’t have anyone to talk to, and that could get pretty lonely... I wouldn’t want to leave you like that’ she thought sadly, thinking about leaving him behind. If he wanted to, Shamu would be able to follow along, but Bagheera would be left here alone. 

Izo watched as what appeared to be an exchange occurred between the sea king and the girl. He couldn’t hear anything out loud, but the sea king appeared to shake his head at her, followed by the girl smiling slightly, although it was quickly replaced with a worried expression. He noticed the panther suddenly stop licking his paws, head turning quickly to look at the girl, jaw dropped slightly. The panther quickly corrected himself, going back to appearing nonchalant, and if he hadn’t just seen it with his own eyes, Izo might not have believed that it had even happened. 

He thought about what the girl had said about a ship with scary men that the sea king avoided, although she had never seen it. The more he heard, the more he was convinced the girl could actually communicate with the beast. Maybe it was some ability from her ‘world’, if that could even be believed. 

“Okay so, I’m thinking that maybe Shamu can go out and see if he can find your ship, or even any ship that might be able to get you some real medical help. Could you by chance describe what your ship looks like, please?” 

He quickly described the Moby Dick in all its glory, a slight fondness taking over his voice and expression, despite the possibly dire situation. His happiness talking about his home almost, almost, made him miss the girl’s gasp and the way she backed up ever-so-slightly. 

“What’s wrong?” Izo asked the girl, returning his face to a neutral expression, and once again focusing on her small figure. 

“Well...” she trailed off. She didn’t exactly know how to tell him that the ship with the scary people Shamu had told her about was the ship he described. What if that offended him and he got angry? If Shamu is right, then if Izo got mad, he could probably seriously hurt her. She lightly bit at her lip, wondering how to word it. 

Izo’s face changed to one of amusement, figuring out why she was suddenly so anxious, seeing as the sea king also seemed to have become slightly more cautious. The panther hadn’t really changed his posture, but he did seem to watching the scene, although his level of understanding currently remained unknown. 

“I’m guessing the ship that the sea king avoids is my ship, am I right?” Izo asked the girl, a small smirk forming on his face. Her eyes widened, and she started biting her lip even more. She scooted back a little further, now right next to the panther, who had stopped licking his paws. Although he still had yet to move, there was a glint in the panther’s eyes. 

She was worried now. Even Bagheera seemed to see the danger as she quickly updated him on the situation, putting his paws down. She could sense the shift in his emotions, even if his body barely moved at all. They were all tensed, and she had no idea what she would do if Izo attacked her. She couldn’t even protect herself from wild animals, let alone someone even a giant like Shamu would be scared of. 

“You don’t need to worry,” Izo said, “I’m not offended by your description of our ship, if anything, I’m flattered. And you and your pet’s caution on approaching our ship is a wise one. Although, we would certainly never hurt an innocent girl, the sea king may be another story.” 

She was still tensed, but seemed to have calmed, even just slightly, but she did let out a little huff followed by, “He’s not my pet...” 

Izo was more amused than anything at this point. While the animals certainly looked poised to attack, he could tell it was defensive rather than offensive, and the girl looked like she was about to cry. She might be a good actress, but he was remarkably good at reading people. His gut was telling him that she wasn’t a threat to him, and she wasn’t acting. 

“And, if the sea king came with me riding on his back, I’m sure that they would be willing to listen to me before they attack. They wouldn’t want to put me in danger after all...” Izo said. 

If he could hitch a ride on the sea king back to the Moby Dick, it would be ideal. However, he also ran the risk of the sea king just dumping him in the water and leaving him for dead. Taking the girl as a hostage might work, but he would most likely be able to easily dump him while not threatening her life in the process. Besides, it’s not like he had a weapon, and in his shape, the hostage ruse would most likely fail. 

“I don’t know... I mean, I would love for you to get back to your friends, and you definitely need to see a real doctor, but... that might be putting Shamu at real risk,” she says, biting her lip. She was worried about Izo’s health, and she also didn’t want him to get mad and attack them, but she also didn’t want to have to put Shamu at risk either. 

“I have an idea,” she said. 

‘Bagheera, can you do me a favor?’ 

‘That depends on what it entails...’ the panther eyed her somewhat suspiciously. She just smiled. 

Izo watched curiously as she took one of the broken boards on the beach, and then picked up the giant black panther’s paw and began writing on it with his claws. There are several reasons that this shocked him to the extend that it did. Although he had already noted that the cat was large, he only just realized that even for a panther, he was huge, easily three times the size of the girl currently using him as a pen. The fact that he wasn’t attacking her was again shocking to him, although the shock from that particular fact had somewhat faded. The final reason was that the cat looked exasperated, yet also fond of the girl at the same time, two expressions that he again did not know a cat could even make. 

When she was finished, she held up the little piece of bark for him to read. Written on it was, “This is Izo, follow the bird to come and get me.” 

Izo read it and then looked at the girl confused, “What bird are you even talking about?” 

“One second!” She smiled brightly, obviously very confident in her plan. She set the little piece of wood down next to him, walking towards the panther, who walked with her into the woods. 

As she walked, she looked for specific bird she had noticed a few times since she had landed. It was different than the rest, and all the other animals, including of the same species, seemed to avoid him. She had noticed that the wind seemed to shift around him in a weird way, and it was fascinating to watch. 

She found her fairly easily, a nest made in the trees she had first spotted the beautiful bird in. She slowly approached it, Bagheera still behind her watching cautiously. When exactly he had become her personal bodyguard he couldn’t say, but at least she wasn’t boring. This plan was equal parts brilliant and idiotic in his opinion, but all he could do was watch it play out. 

‘Hello, my name is Elisa, how are you?’ 

The bird stared at the girl for a little while, not entirely grasping what she had heard. Of course she had heard humans speak before, but she could never quite understand the full meaning. However, now, it’s as if they were speaking the same language. 

‘I’ve noticed you on the island a bit, it seems as though you don’t have any family, or friends’ Elisa continued. 

‘Animals don’t have friends’ Bagheera rolled his eyes. She shot him a quick look, which only made him roll his eyes again. As if that was going to work. 

‘How... do I know what you’re saying?’ the bird’s voice finally responded. 

‘I ate a devil fruit, it allows me to communicate with you guys,’ Elisa smiled up at the bird, who was watching her like a hawk. Elisa wasn’t sure how much damage the bird could do to her, if she was honest. 

‘Why did you give it to me?’ she responded. 

‘Well, I never see you with the other birds, and I thought you might be a bit lonely, all by yourself. And well, I might also need a tiny favor...’ she smiled sheepishly at the bird, hoping she didn’t get mad. 

‘The other birds rejected me when I accidentally ate a devil fruit,’ the bird responded. 

‘You ate one too?! Finally, someone I can talk to about it,’ she responded. 

‘Is there a way you can take the ability away?’ the bird asked. 

‘Why?’ 

‘Because, once I do your favor you will just leave like the rest and then I will be even more lonely, able to communicate, and no one to communicate with,’ the bird said harshly, ‘I’ll do your favor if you agree to get rid of this ability in me.’ 

‘Well... I don’t actually know how, but I promise not to leave! I’m trying to get someone off the island. Their ship is nearby, I just need you to bring them a note, and then you can stay with me! I’m not planning on leaving with them.’ 

‘Why wouldn’t you leave this deserted island to be with humans, your kind? Especially if you’re bringing a ship here to take someone else away from it?’ 

‘Because I can’t leave Bagheera! He’s the panther that’s here with me. I couldn’t possibly leave him behind alone to get lonely, so I’ll have to wait until I figure out a way to bring him with me,’ Elisa smiled at the bird. 

The bird thought about it for a moment, eyes on the seemingly disinterested panther, then moving them back to Elisa. 

‘Very well, I will grant you this favor, however, if you decide to break your promise, I will follow you, and you will never be without me again,’ and with that the bird jumped out of its nest, landing on Elisa’s neck, using her shoulder as a perch. 

Elisa grimaced slightly, with the claws slightly digging into her flesh, but figured it was worth it. She just made a new friend, and one who she could talk to about her devil fruit, maybe someone to help her figure it out. 

As she walked back to the beach, she quickly updated Shamu on her befriending of the bird. Shamu was impressed and when the bird learned of Elisa’s friendship with a sea king, she was also impressed at her abilities. It seems that her devil fruit would most likely be useless on someone less kind than Elisa. 

Izo watched curiously as Elisa left the forest, Bagheera following behind her, and a large golden eagle perched on her shoulder. The eagle’s head immediately snapped towards Izo, examining him curiously. Izo couldn’t help but to notice that each of Elisa’s animal friends happened to be predators, and that maybe she would actually fit quite well with the Whitebeard crew. 

His small chuckle drew their attention towards him from where they had formed a small circle by the sea. He assumed they were communicating their plan to each other, in whatever way that they were able to. The more he saw the interactions, the more convinced he became that she wasn’t simply crazy, but that she did in fact have some way to communicate with the animals. 

She jogged lightly over towards Izo, the bird still perched on her shoulder. “So, this is... um... Goldilocks?” 

She looked over at the bird, who looked back at the girl, before examining her own golden feathers again. Obviously the bird didn’t understand the reference, but she supposed it was fitting, given her golden feathers. 

“Goldilocks can fly to your ship and give them the message,” Elisa smiled brightly at him. He was surprised that she was being so helpful and kind, “And then lead them back to the island to come pick you up... I would really appreciate if you could leave without hurting any of us...” 

At the end, her smile faltered slightly. She thought about the possibility of the man’s crew hurting them when they arrived, but at least this way, Shamu, Bagheera, and Goldilocks could get away easily enough, at least that’s what she hoped. 

The man watched the girl. She seemed to be a little bit too kind-hearted for her own good. The fact that she didn’t recognize the description of the Moby Dick and immediately understand the gravity of the situation spoke loads, no matter how scared she was simply by her limited knowledge of it. And yet, here she was, offering to allow her bird to go and bring them to him, simply so he could survive. And from the sounds of it, she didn’t intend to leave with them, either. Maybe these animals were more important to her than he had thought. 

“At least let me add something to the board,” he commented softly, letting out the barest hints of a smile at the girl, “That way they know that it’s me and don’t come in looking for a fight.” 

“How do I know you won’t add something saying the opposite?” she asked worriedly, now worried about Goldilocks on her journey there and back. 

“You’ll just have to trust me, but as of yet you haven’t harmed me, and I honestly doubt you could do much damage even if you tried, so what possible purpose would I have in warning them? Either way, they’d be coming here,” he bluntly answered her. 

“I guess...” she said, asking him to tell her what to write as she once again used Bagheera’s claw as a writing tool. 

‘I really hope you don’t try to get used to this...’ Bagheera grumbled internally, causing Elisa to smirk slightly at him. 

‘You should consider hiding in the woods by the time the ship arrives on the island. The man cannot follow you in his current condition, and the jungle is dense and large enough that you should be able to safely hide until they leave,’ Shamu wisely advised her as she put the finishing touches on the board. 

‘I’ll think about it, but I also have to make sure Goldilocks is safe as well,’ she answered softly in her head, before turning to softly pet over the head of her newest animal friend. At least she wasn’t alone on this island. 

She wrapped the board around the bird’s body using some vines, careful not to harm the bird at all or make it more difficult for her to fly. She asked Shamu the approximate direction that the ship had last been in, before relaying it to Goldilocks. 

‘It might not be completely accurate, so you might have to fly around a bit more. If you can’t find them within the next day, you should fly back here, and we can try to think of something else. I’ll try to stay in contact as long as I can, but I honestly don’t know how far my ability can go...’ 

‘It’s okay, I’ll be fine, I’ve traveled far distances before, and I have encountered many dangerous beasts. I should be fine, and I always have my devil fruit to back me up if I need it,’ Goldilocks answered, kicking up into the air. 

‘Wait, what IS your devil fruit ability anyways?’ Elisa asked. 

‘I suppose you’ll just have to wait for my return to find out,’ the bird cooed out in what almost sounded like a laugh to Izo’s ears. His suspicion was confirmed when Elisa’s lighthearted laugh soon followed. 

She waved as the bird flew off into the sky, yelling out to stay safe and return soon. 

‘Shamu... can you follow after Goldilocks for me, just make sure she’s alright?’ Elisa asked the sea king. 

‘Are you going to tell him about us?’ 

‘I haven’t decided yet, and I don’t think he means us any harm, but, I think it’d be better to be safe than sorry in this case...’ 

Regardless, the sea king dove into the water, following after the bird, who looked down upon seeing Shamu’s pursuit. 

‘I don’t need a babysitter.’ 

‘It might be easier to find the ship with his help too, I just want to make sure that you stay safe.’ 

‘Very well, having eyes below the sea as well as above will likely be useful.’ 

“You can communicate with them,” Izo said, seemingly out of the blue. The statement caused Elisa to freeze in place, and Izo vaguely noticed a lack of motion from the panther, yellow eyes once again locked on him. He was beginning to think that they could understand even him. 

“I concluded that for whatever reason you don’t want to tell me how you can communicate with them, and it seems as though they can even understand me. Whether or not they can communicate with me, I don’t know yet,” he continued, eyeing her still. 

While it is true that he doesn’t see any threat from her, his curiosity did usually get the better of him, and he would rather know her ability before the crew arrived. If he did, then he would have an easier time convincing them that she’s not a threat to them. Granted, none of them would likely deem her as one, but at times like this, some of the division commanders preferred to take larger precautions. After all, they had just faced an attack from an enemy ship, and to top it off, they had lost him in the ensuing battle. Chances are, they’ll be cautious of whoever they come across that’s with him. 

“I won’t force you to tell me, but some of my brothers might be curious as to the abilities of the person we’ll be inviting onto our ship,” Izo extended the invitation to the girl, although her earlier statements made it seem as though she wasn’t coming. 

“Well you don’t need to worry about that, since I won’t be accepting the invitation, so there’s no need to extend one.” 

“You don’t wish to get off this island? Try to figure out what’s happening to you? You only gave me very limited information, but if what you believe is true, I doubt you’ll find the answers stuck on this island. There’s no telling how much time might pass before someone else comes along,” Izo said, seeking to understand why she would refuse the help. 

He didn’t really care whether she came or not, but his curiosity urged him to figure it out. Was she scared to be on such a ship with scary men, as had been described to her? Did she perhaps not want to find a way home? What was the reason? 

“Well, I can’t just leave Bagheera here. I suppose Shamu and Goldilocks could follow along, but I wouldn’t want to rip them away from their homes anyways. I appreciate the offer, but I don’t think now is the right time for me to leave,” she said with a smile. 

The panther had now moved so that he was curled around the girl, her hand lightly scratching behind his ears. It seemed an affectionate move on the panther’s part, but there was also some defensiveness behind it. He was blocking her slightly from Izo’s view, and that much closer to him should Izo decide to make a move, not that he could in his condition. 

“Well, I can’t force you to tell me, and I can’t force you to come, although some of the others might be intrigued,” Izo said, “And they can be convincing when they want to be.” 

At the frightened expression that appeared on her face, Izo laughed, realizing how his previous statement could be misinterpreted, “I don’t mean it like that, they just might bug you and annoy you into telling them what they want to know. It seems to be their specialty.” 

“Oh... well, I guess we’ll see then...” Elisa looked away, lost in thought. 

~.~.~.~ 

It didn’t take long for Goldilocks and Shamu to find the ship they were looking for. It most definitely lived up to the descriptions that she heard. Shamu wisely hid underneath the water while the golden eagle landed on the deck. 

“Yo, come check this out! Marco your cousin is here!” a man called out, laughing hard. 

A blonde man came over, mumbling, “What in the hell are you talking abo-” 

Upon catching sight of the golden eagle, who was tilting its head to the side, appearing almost confused, the blonde man rolled his eyes, “Hey! It’s serious right now, we have to figure out where Izo is. It’s already been a day, stop goofing around.” 

“Sorry, I just thought we could all use a bit of a laugh, maybe lighten the mood a bit...” the man’s voice fell off as he walked away. 

The blonde man looked at the bird, unmoving as it picked at the feathers of its chest. 

“Go on now, shoo shoo!” the blonde man said, approaching the bird and waving his arms. He really didn’t have time for this. However, the bird didn’t budge, just continued picking at its chest feathers. “What in the hell?” 

‘Humans really are stupid aren’t they...’ Goldilocks thought to herself, picking at the vines along her chest, trying to draw the man’s attention to the board. She heard Izo’s name, the man on the island, and knew that this was definitely the right ship. 

The blonde man watched the bird, calmly staying on the deck despite the many moving people, spilled foods, and all the commotion. He had never seen a bird act like this before... 

That’s when he spotted it. There was a vine wrapped around the poor bird, maybe it was making it hard for the poor thing to fly. He carefully approached the bird, hands out, palms up, trying to show he wasn’t going to hurt it. That’s when the bird looked up and made eye contact with him. It was the strangest thing he had ever seen. 

The bird then moved its head, using it to point down at a piece of wood, tied around its chest. 

“Huh, so that’s why that vine’s there, I wonder what it is...” the blonde man carefully untangled the bird, and looked at the little plank. 

His eyes widened as the bird made a small whistling sound, ruffling its feathers, and taking off into the air, maintaining eye contact with the man. It tilted its head, almost as if to ask ‘Are you coming or not?’ 

“Men! We’re changing directions, follow my orders. I think I know how to find Izo!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii! Sorry this took so long, things have definitely been HECTIC recently. I was also having a hard time figuring out how I wanted this to go. You may have noticed I changed it from first person to third person, simply because I felt like it flowed better, I hope you all don't mind! Anyways, tell me what you think and I hope you enjoyed it!!


	3. Marco

CHAPTER 3 : Marco

“Okay men, I need you to follow that bird,” Marco said strongly, giving out specific orders to specific people as the need arose. When he was sure everyone knew their duties, he went to talk to Whitebeard about what had happened. It seemed a few others were just as curious. 

“Why are you following a bird of all things Marco? Don’t tell me you can ACTUALLY talk to them now?” Thatch laughed, although his nerves were still clear to see, obviously thinking about their lost crewmate.

“Don’t be an idiot, it had this wrapped around its body in vines,” Marco said, “And it was drawing my attention to it, picking at it with its beak. I’m not entirely sure how, but it’s the best lead we have right now...” 

He trailed off a bit, thinking about how the man had disappeared without a trace. He didn’t know how the man had managed to get so far away from where they originally were, unless they had already passed by where he had landed. 

“Well, that  _ sounds _ like it could definitely be a trap to me,”  Jozu said seriously, “Are you sure we should just be following?”

“I never said not to be prepared for a fight,” Marco replied calmly. He had obviously thought of that possibility, “A bird that was so tame to let someone wrap something around it, and then it managed to find our exact ship and is now leading us back to where it came from? It’s certainly a little suspicious, not to mention this isn’t paper and pen, it’s board and it’s been crudely written on. However, it makes me think that  Izo is  actually wherever this bird is leading us, or at the very least the person holding him is, since they knew we’re missing  Izo , and knew we were looking for him.”

“In other words, we should prepare for the worst for when we get there then,”  Jozu nodded in agreement. Although it was certainly sketchy, it was their best lead, and it was better than wandering aimlessly about in the New World, where it was already hard enough to navigate, let alone when looking for a crewmate lost at sea. 

“Yes,” Marco said. He was passing the board around, allowing everyone to read it through, so that they could all be in agreement. 

“Wait...” Thatch said softly, looking at  the board of wood, a soft expression on his face, “This... I don’t think Izo’s in any danger.”

“Why do you think that?” Vista asked, looking at Thatch curiously. 

“Look at this,” he said, smiling. The little symbol at the bottom was a symbol that only the Whitebeard Pirates knew, a little secret they shared for times like this. 

The others looked at it, recognizing the symbol, and calmed down slightly. 

“Well, I suppose we don’t need to go in with our fists raised, but caution is still necessary,” Pops finally spoke up, looking at his children. “We need to be prepared for anything, but in this case, maybe ask first and attack later, not the other way around?”

“Yea  yea Old Man, as if you’d know anything about that,” Marco joked, now in a much better mood. He didn’t know how he’d missed it at first, maybe the shock of the bird, maybe the thrill of having a lead on his missing crewmate, but he was happy someone noticed it before they got there. “I should go back up, make sure the idiots haven’t lost sight of that eagle.”

“I  wanna see this bird too,” Haruta said, “I mean, there’s  gotta be something that can show us why it’s so damn smart right?”

The other captains murmured in agreement, before following Marco out of the room. When they got on deck, they could just see an island in the distance, and the bird leading the way. She was a beauty in the sky, sunlight gleaming off her golden feathers, but nothing gave away how she was able to know how to find them, or how she was so well-behaved. Maybe she had just been with her owner for a long time, but they supposed they’d find out when they got there. 

~.~.~

Izo was watching Elisa again. Bagheera was still curled around her, somewhat blocking his view of her, but he could still see enough. The cat was  definitely excellent at his nonchalant act, though, as he was once again just laying with his head on his paws, appearing to be staring into space, but actually watching  Izo carefully. 

“Hey look!” Elisa said, pointing into the distance. 

He looked out over the water, and he could see a ship approaching, although still quite small, and the bird flying in front of it. Shamu approached and broke water right after they caught sight of them on the horizon. 

‘ _ Finding the ship was not difficult, it seemed to have not moved too far from the original place I found  _ _ Izo _ _ ,’  _ Shamu said.

‘ _ Hm, well that does make sense, I suppose... They probably figured he couldn’t have gone far, and ordinarily they’d be right,’  _ Elisa thought to him, ‘ _ Izo _ _ told me he thinks I can communicate with you guys, and he suspects you can understand him...’  _

_ ‘He must be perceptive, but we weren’t exactly doing the best job at hiding it to begin with, so I suppose it can’t be helped,’ _ Shamu answered her, ‘ _ Have you decided if you’re going to stay here or if you’re going to hide in the woods while they’re here?’ _

_ ‘I think I’ll go to the woods,’ _ she answered calmly, her hand going to Bagheera’s ears, ‘ _ I’d rather not deal with a group of men attempting to convince me to go with them, even if it is with good intentions, that kind of situation doesn’t seem ideal...’ _

__ Bagheera snorted at this, although it sounded strange coming from him, more like a huffed growl. Of course, he couldn’t hear Shamu’s side of the conversation, but Elisa’s was enough to keep him in the loop, and he certainly agreed that Elisa would not do well surrounded by a group of unfamiliar men, even with him and Shamu around. 

‘ _ Hush Bagheera, your sass isn’t needed...’ _

_ ‘I didn’t say anything,’  _ Bagheera answered dryly, but Elisa just rolled her eyes. 

‘ _ I’ll wait until Goldilocks is within communication limits, and then I’ll tell her how to get to our cave, Shamu, you should probably stay close by, but not close enough that they can find you or hurt you, I don’t think they will, but still...’ _

Izo was watching the silent exchange closely, trying to understand what could be going on behind the scenes. It could be an ability from her ‘world’, or it could be a devil fruit, which might explain how she knew about them,  and also why she was hesitant to tell him. It would be like automatically telling him her weakness, especially since she obviously wasn’t a fighter. Sure, she had Shamu, who might be able to save her, but not if he was hurt or killed first. 

The panther let out a little growl, but it didn’t seem malicious, and if he had to guess, the panther was laughing.  It seemed as though they had come to some sort of an agreement, as the communication seemed to stop after a few more moments. He continued to sit with her in silence, as he realized he probably wouldn’t get very far with trying to convince her to come with them at this point. She obviously didn’t want to leave the animals behind, but he couldn’t be the one to make the decision that they could come with her. He’d have to talk to Marco and Whitebeard about that, and they might not be willing to  make a decision until meeting and getting to know here anyways, so for now, it appeared they were at a stand-still. 

It was when she stood up that he narrowed his eyes though. She went over and laid her hand on Shamu’s head, which had reached over to the shore. He was a bit serpent looking,  almost like a dragon, which made it easier for him to reach out and touch her from the sea without her having to wade into the water at all. She lightly scratched at the area between his eyes, and then he was gone, disappearing beneath the sea. 

She turned and looked at him, smiling slightly, “Well, it was nice to meet you  Izo , but it’s time for me to get going.”

He looked at her curiously. “Why? My ship is almost arriving, surely you can stay for dinner?”

“Walking through the jungles here can be dangerous at night, even with my trusty bodyguard here. If I want to get to my  little home before nightfall, I should leave now,” she answered him, still smiling, although a little sadly. The sun was beginning to dip in the sky, oranges and yellows now appearing to mix in with the blues. 

“What about Goldilocks?” he asked, trying to extend her stay, “You can stay here for the night, we will be able to protect you from the dangers, and we can share a meal, perhaps something you haven’t eaten since you got here.”

“I think that would only make me miss that food more,” she laughed, “Besides, I have my little cave, it protects me from the environment, and we have fish there, Bagheera’s favorite, so I’ll be fine. Goldilocks will let me know when  you’ve been reunited with your crew. Besides, this way,  you’ll be able to leave  immediately , you  won’t have to stay back out of some sort of hospitality towards me.”

With that, her and Bagheera retreated into the woods, and his side injury prevented him from following her. She seemed almost sad to leave him there, but it was clear she made up her mind. She chose her animals, for whatever reason. That  didn’t mean he would give up  though, because he had already decided as well. 

He liked her, for whatever reason.

~.~.~

‘ _ Are you sure this is what you want?’ _ Bagheera asked her, watching her as they walked back to their little makeshift home.

‘ _ Yes.’  _ She said it confidently, she was sure this was what she wanted, she  wouldn’t abandon those that she had come to care about, even her new little friend, even if it meant a way off the island. She  couldn’t resist teasing him, though, ‘ _ It’s nice to see that you care about me though.’ _

_ ‘Don’t get ahead of yourself... you just seemed a little sad back there,’  _ Bagheera said carefully. It was true, he had grown to care about her, but just by a little bit. He didn’t want her to do something she’d regret. 

‘ _ Well, I did actually like him quite a bit, honestly, although he was a little scary and strange at time,’ _ she smiled, ‘ _ but I like you guys more, so there’s no way you’re getting rid of me that easily.’ _

_ ‘You know I’d go with you...’ _ Bagheera said softly.  He’d thought it so quietly that she almost  couldn’t even hear it. 

‘ _ What?’ _ she asked, surprised, turning to look at Bagheera, her mouth and eyes wide at what she thought she heard him say.

‘ _ If you wanted to go with them, I would come with you, if  _ _ that’s _ _ what  _ _ you’re _ _ worried about... It might be fun to see the world outside this island, I might even get to fight some people.’  _

_ ‘Well, that’s good to  _ _ know, when _ _ the time comes, although, fighting won’t _ _ be our  _ _ first  _ _ priority _ _. But anyways,  _ _ they’d _ _ have to be willing to let you come too, but  _ _ maybe one _ _ day,  _ _ we’ll _ _ find someone  _ _ who’ll _ _ take all of us.’ _

_ ‘You never know, they might’ve offered if you’d stayed.” _

_ “ _ _ Izo _ _ would have said something if that were the case, he knew the reason I didn’t want to go was because of you guys,’  _ she answered, fully made up in her mind. If she thought to much about it, she might go back, and then Shamu might get mad at her, or one of them could  get hurt . ‘ _ Besides, we should  _ _ probably wait _ _ for someone less dangerous anyways, don’t you think?’ _

_ ‘If that’s what you want,’  _ Bagheera said, rolling his eyes. Even he could tell the girl wanted to go with them, but he  was touched that he meant so much to another being, so he left it be. If they cared that much about her coming, they  wouldn’t give up just like that.

They arrived at the cave, and she began getting things ready for a quick dinner. She still  wasn’t the best at starting fires, so it looked like it would be more wild veggies and fruits for her tonight, and Bagheera could have the fish Shamu had managed to get her while out today. 

~.~.~

Goldilocks led the ship to the shore the man,  Izo , was resting. Elisa and Bagheera were gone, but Elisa had already told her how to get to their home, and she assumed that Shamu was swimming in the ocean somewhere.

She landed next to the man briefly, watching as the Whitebeard Pirates began to anchor and dispatch smaller boats to bring them to shore. She was just about to leave, seeing as the men had obviously already spotted their lost crewmate on the shore, when the man spoke to her. 

“I don’t know if you can talk to me the way you do to her, or even understand me the way you do her,” he said, looking at the bird, “But, can you convince her to come with us? I don’t think I can just leave her stranded on this island, and our crew doesn’t give up easily.”

The bird just looked at him, she couldn’t talk to him, but she understood what he was saying well. She knew she would follow if the girl left the island, but she also knew the girl was concerned for the panther, and the sea king. Besides, at the end of the day, it wasn’t up to Goldilocks, it was up to Elisa. 

“I’ll try to talk to my crew about you and Bagheera, I’m not sure how Shamu would fit, but we’ll figure it out, just try to convince her to come and talk to us? I promise we won’t hurt any of you, and we won’t force her to come, I just want to talk to her, and introduce her to my crew,” he said, watching the golden eagle carefully, looking for any sign of comprehension or agreement. 

The bird continued to look at him, and then cocked her head to the side. She ruffled her feathers a little bit, and then, she reached out with her wing, patting him on the back slightly. His eyes widened. Although he had had his suspicions, he hadn’t been expecting such an outright display, but it still wasn’t an answer. It seemed more as if the bird was consoling him. 

The bird then abruptly pulled up and flew over into the jungle, leaving him behind. 

“Hey Izo, don’t tell me you’re taking after Marco, and you can actually talk to birds now?” Thatch joked, but the tears growing in his eyes showed how happy he was to find his crewmate safe, and mostly healthy. He had a nasty gash on his side, but it had been dressed, however crudely, and it looked like Izo would make it.

“Follow that bird!”  Izo shouted, taking the small group of men that had been the first to arrive on the island by surprise. “Follow the bird, we have to find the girl.”

“The... girl?” Thatch questioned. He worried that  Izo might have hit his head at some point, the way he was talking to that bird earlier and now talking about a girl, “You mean... the bird?”

“No, the bird is a … a … a PET of the girl!”  Izo yelled out again. “I mean, not a pet, but a something, I don’t know. The important thing is, she’s stranded on this island and we have to help her!”

“ Izo calm down,” Marco’s calm voice broke through the murmurs on the shore. “You’re  gonna hurt yourself with that wound if you keep thrashing about like that.”

Izo had been gesturing wildly with his hands, pointing in the direction of the jungle, even trying to get up at one point. He didn’t know why he was so  desperate now. He had simply watched as the girl and the panther had disappeared earlier. But now that his crew had landed, and the last lead on the girl was gone, it felt more real, and he couldn’t just leave her on this island, where she would more than probably die, even with the help of her animals. 

“Now, tell us what the hell you were going on about?” Marco asked, gesturing for the nurses to come over to them. “You can tell us while they treat that wound, beginning with who treated it to begin with.”

Izo told them about Elisa, not everything, but how Shamu, a sea king and her pet, had taken him to shore and how she had bandaged him up to the best of her abilities with what little she had on the island. He told them the things she had told him combined with what he had inferred about her and her ability. Then, he told them about why she didn’t want to leave the island, even if it meant being stranded for longer, and that her loyalty to those animals kept her from leaving. 

“So, we have to get her, and the animals, and take them with us,”  Izo stated matter-of-factly. “We have enough room for her and the panther, Goldilocks doesn’t take much space, and Shamu can just swim around us. He’s pretty big, even for a sea king, and they might even be useful. Besides, I owe her, I can’t just leave her here alone, especially without answers.”

“She said she’s from another  world? And she talks to animal?” the nurse asked. “Are you sure she’s not crazy? Being alone for an extended period of time can lead to splits from reality.”

“I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it myself. When I first woke up, she was laying on the back of an enormous sea king, and when she got back on land, after  _ sliding down _ his tail, she began  _ petting _ one of the largest panthers I’ve ever seen, or even heard of,”  Izo explained, “She even used his  _ claws _ as a  _ pen _ to write that message on the board.” 

“Well, that certainly is unusual, and without being able to communicate them in some way, it most likely isn’t just her imagination,” Thatch said thoughtfully, “Although, the other world part does seem a little far fetched...”

“Just, we have to find her. All I know is she said she has a cave that she stays in,” he said, “I don’t know if I can convince her to come with us, but I’d like you all to at least meet her, and maybe we can give her some food or clothing,”  Izo said, trailing off as his eyes went to the jungle. 

“Okay, okay I hear  ya ,” Marco said, rolling his eyes, but smiling softly. “Okay guys, we’re splitting up and heading to the jungle. See if you can find anything we can take back to the ship, food-wise, we might as well get some fruits or veggies while we’re at  it, but try to find the girl. We’ll meet back here in about 2 hours, alright? If we can’t find her, we’ll head back out tomorrow.”

The pirates split off, some by themselves, some in pairs, and some in groups, but they each went to the jungle. Marco asked what direction the girl went in and  Izo pointed him in the right direction. 

‘ _ This is  _ _ gonna _ _ be a long night... But  _ _ Izo _ _ doesn’t usually warm up to people like this so she must be something special...’  _

~.~.~

‘ _ Izo _ _ really wants you to come back,’  _ Goldilocks said as she landed in the cave, looking at Elisa, who was sitting and staring at her board. 

“What?”

_ ‘ _ _ Izo _ _ , he said he wanted you to come back, so you could meet his crew and you could talk. He said you might be able to bring us with you, if you want to go with them...’  _

_ “ _ Oh... I don’t know,” __ Elisa said, but if she was honest with herself, she did want to go back and see him, make sure he would be okay with his wound, to meet the people he seemed to care so much about. He had seemed so at peace when talking about their ship, the Moby Dick, but...

“Well... what if the way for me to get home is on this island, I mean, I landed here, so it might be something from around here,” Elisa explained, hoping to avoid seeing the others. 

If she  want to see  Izo again, she  would leave with them, but then it would be … real. On this island, even with her devil fruit, she could at least pretend  its not a different world, with scary pirates and devil fruits and sea monsters. She could pretend she was stranded on island near California, and that Gavin, her loving boyfriend, would come and save her, and they would be happy. 

‘ _ What happens to us if you go home?’ _ Bagheera asked, a slight drop of sadness touching his tone.

“I... I hadn’t thought that far ahead. To be honest, I had barely even thought about getting off this island before  Izo , and even since he got here, it’s mainly been me trying to avoid anyone getting hurt...” Elisa said, “I don’t want to leave you guys, but I have a family there... Parents, a sister, even a boyfriend, Gavin.” 

Bagheera moved so that he was curled more tightly around her, placing his head on her lap, trying toT provide her with some comfort. Even he wasn’t so heartless to turn his back on her in this state. Goldilocks came a little closer, and Elisa reached out her hand to gently rub her head. She’d have to learn Goldilocks’s soft spots soon. 

‘ _ What was your world like?’  _ Goldilocks asked, curious.

“My world? Well, for one, there weren’t sea kings or devil fruits, nothing magical, everything was scientific, and science had gone so far. I don’t know how much of it carries over to this world, if this world  is more or less advanced than mine, but it’s amazing to think about after being here on an island with nothing. We had cars, which are like ships, but for land, and you could drive them anywhere, faster than even you, Bagheera. Some were big and could carry tons of weight, and some were small to save on energy. Then there were planes, the same thing, but they could fly in the sky, to anywhere you wanted to go, you could go all the way around the world in a day if you wanted to probably. And there were phones, so you could talk to people anywhere in the world instantly, and send texts to them, and they also had music, and games to play, and tv to watch. There’s just so much,” she said.

‘ _ They have something  _ _ similar to _ _ your phone here, but I don’t know how it works,’  _ Goldilocks explained, ‘ _ But cars and planes seem interesting, I don’t think we have those here. Were there pirates there?’ _

“There used to be pirates, a long time ago, but when sea travel became less  popular they declined. Now there’s gangs, I guess they’re similar, but I don’t really know what pirates here are like, so I can’t compare. Gangs sell drugs and guns illegally, and they kill a lot, sometimes even innocent people. Gang wars can really hurt poorer areas and can lead to a lot of trouble, but  Izo didn’t seem so bad... so maybe they’re not very similar at all...” she said, thinking about the dangers of her world. “My world had its own dangers, we may not have devil fruits, but there were bombs that could wipe out entire cities, chemical weapons that could kill instantly. There was this one phrase that was popular, Humans always find better ways to kill each other, and I guess that’s true in any world...”

“But there was lots of good too, technology to help the environment, to save people from illnesses, cures for deadly diseases and poisons, and some genuinely good people in the world,” she smiled fondly, “Gavin was one of those. He couldn’t hurt a fly. Everyone loved him, kids, grandparents, my parents. My dad never even had to threaten him to treat me right, because he just knew that Gavin would. He was so gentle and kind, so loving... You see on my board, the little heart, it has an E and a G engraved in it, Elisa and Gavin, we used to teach people how to ride the waves. We even went to the same college, and we were  gonna graduate and then start on our own line of boards and wetsuits, but I guess that can’t happen now, since I can’t swim...”

‘ _ You must miss people...’  _ Goldilocks said, ‘ _ I know you have us, but are we enough? We can’t relate to everything you do, and you know we’d follow you if you decide to go with them...’  _

“I do kind of miss people, but I love you guys! I’m perfectly happy to stay here with you, we’ll find another opportunity, I can’t burden those guys on  Izo’s ship with me and all my baggage,” she smiled, but her eyes were filled with tears. 

“It sure doesn’t sound like you’re all that happy,” a new voice said.

She whipped her head around to look at the new voice, who she hadn’t even realized was there. Goldilocks recognized him from the ship, so she wasn’t worried, but she was surprised to find him there. Bagheera picked his head up, growling lowly in the back of his throat, eyes shining in the dimness of the evening. She hadn’t even noticed it had started getting dark outside, so lost in reminiscing. 

“Hello again, little bird,” the man said, talking to Goldilocks, “ Izo said you guys can understand us, so I wanted to thank you for leading us back to Izo.”

Goldilocks looked at him with her big eyes, before briefly nodding her head. 

Elisa took in the man before her. He was blonde, with big eyes and sun-kissed skin, not surprising given his time on a ship. His purple shirt was laying open, revealing a rather large tattoo across his chest, and he had on normal pants, along with an aqua blue sash. His expression was calm, and it seemed hard to read him, but still, there was something alluring about him. 

“Well come on,” the man said, “ Izo won’t let us leave until he says goodbye, sent the whole damn crew on a search mission for you.”

“What do you mean?” she asked softly, scooching a little further away from him, into Bagheera’s warmth, protecting her not only from the chilly air but from the man from the dangerous ship.

“You helped out our precious crewmate, you can’t expect us to just leave without thanking you can you,” the stranger asked, lips quirking up into a small smirk.

Bagheera growled lowly, ‘ _ Yes we can.’ _

“Bagheera says we can,” she said back, a little  more sassy than she intended. She squeaked before shutting her mouth, making Bagheera chuckle a little, despite the tense situation. She quickly retaliated with a pinch to the side, causing him to let out a yelp and a glare thrown in her  direction before he went back to watching the man. 

“How long have you been there, anyways?” she asked.

“Well, I got here when you started talking about your world to your pets-”

“They’re NOT pets!” she interrupted quickly. She had already corrected  Izo several times, and now she had to correct this new man too. “And you were there that long and didn’t even say anything? That’s more than a little creepy.”

The man let out a chuckle, “ Izo mentioned you didn’t like it when he called them your pets, I just wanted to see what you’d do. You didn’t disappoint huh, you’re a cheeky little thing.”

Elisa huffed, but she could feel her cheeks light up a bit, upset he managed to get her riled up while he remained so cool and collected. 

‘ _ Elisa you really should be more careful, you don’t know what he’s capable of’ _ Bagheera warned. 

‘ _ I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, he was very calm and kind earlier when I met him,’ _ Goldilocks interjected. 

Elisa relayed what Goldilocks had said to Bagheera, who nodded but still didn’t let up his guard, although she supposed it was just in his predatory nature. 

The man surveyed the scene in front of him. It certainly seems as though she can converse with them, and they were too comfortable with her for there not to be some form of communication. They were both predators after all, not exactly known for being friendly with prey creatures, and the way she looked now was  definitely more prey than predator. She seemed strong enough, she had some toned muscles along her legs and arms, and she had spirit, that was easy to see. But, at the end of the day, she was small, and without a weapon, she probably couldn’t do much damage, unless she was trained. She was just curling into the panther, instead of getting into any stances, which led him to believe she didn’t have any hand-to-hand combat training. 

“Who are you anyways” his thoughts were interrupted by her voice. 

“Me? I’m Marco,” he said, grinning down at her, “First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, its nice to meet you Elisa.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed it :) Marco and Elisa finally meet heheh, hopefully, it won't take this long to get the next chapter up, I'm so so so sorry for the long wait :(


	4. The Whitebeard Pirates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again :) Here's the next chapter!

Elisa watched as Marco go comfortable, sitting down across the fire from her. He eyed her board, the smooth wood shining brightly as the light from the fire hit it just right, showing off the beautiful design she had picked herself. His eyes wandered around the cave, looking at the dark corners and the emptiness of it. It was small, and there wasn’t much to it, but it was all she had, on this island… in this world. The only thing she cared about that wasn’t here was Shamu, who she was sure was out in the ocean, probably close by, watching and waiting for the pirates to leave. He’d be mad if he saw who was sitting in her cave right now.

“So what is this anyways?” Marco’s question pulled her out of her thoughts. He gestured to her board, looking at it curiously.

“Seriously, a life on the ocean and you’ve never heard of a surfboard?” she questioned back, looking him in the eye. His eyebrow lifted, looking back to the board, but his face remained blank. He seemed to be questioning it even more now, his eyes looking over it as if the answer would jump out.

“You use it to ride the waves,” she answered, hesitantly. “You stand on top of it, and let the waves take you home.” Her smile was reminiscent, a little sad, but it was present, looking at the board as if it meant everything to her.

“Sounds like fun, too bad I’d never be able to use it,” Marco said, eyeing her. He had his suspicions her ability was from a devil fruit, but he doubted she’d give up the information easily. While she appeared a little naïve, and she obviously wasn’t used to a life of danger, she hadn’t said anything to Izo, making him believe that one of the animals had a little bit more caution than she did. Telling someone she had a devil fruit would surely put her at a disadvantage, especially given her size and stature, even with the help of her animals.

“Why not?” she asked, curious. Surely, he wouldn’t just give up information about himself that could be used against him. Shamu had told her not to tell people, it could hurt her.

“Haha, Izo didn’t tell you much about us, did he?” he let out a small laugh, “I ate a devil fruit, a long time ago, I’m not the only one on the ship either.”

“Shouldn’t you… not tell people that?” she questioned him further, trying to understand. Isn’t the element of surprise supposed to be helpful? Especially in a pirate’s line of work, she’d think that any advantage would be necessary.

“Well, my bounty is pretty high, same with most of the higher officers on Whitebeard’s ship, so most people already know about it,” he explained, “And I doubt you’d be the type to use it against me, from what Izo’s said. After everything you’ve done for Izo, I can give you at least that much…”

She stared at him, a guarded look still in her eyes. Normally, she’s a very forthcoming person, she knows she wears her heart on her sleeve, and she’s never been a particularly good liar. However, Shamu’s warnings keep coming back to her, and even Bagheera has warned her to be more discrete with the information she provides. She couldn’t tell what his goal was. Was he trying to get her to trust him so that she’d come back with him? Was he trying to figure out how she could talk to them? Was he just being nice? The last one seemed particularly farfetched, but her experience in the past had always been with normal people, not pirates, so her judgement was slightly skewed.

‘ _Don’t reveal too much to him, Elisa,’_ Bagheera growled softly. He decided to get up, forcing Elisa to sit up slightly. ‘ _Just because he told you, doesn’t mean you have to tell him, besides, he’s still at an advantage, there’s more of them than of us.’_

 _‘Us, huh, since when have we been an us,’_ she teased the panther, watching him make his way over to the blonde.

‘ _Hush, girl,’_ he growled out, but his growl lacked real heat.

Marco stayed still as Bagheera approached. He wanted to be wary of the approaching animal, a beast that should be feared, but he didn’t think Elisa had sent him with the intention to harm. He suspected the animal was just checking him out, protecting the girl. If Bagheera attacked, he was sure he could handle himself, but if Marco attacked first, he would lose whatever trust Izo had managed to build up, if there was any.

The poor girl was obviously scared, lonely, and confused. He was pretty sure at this point she wasn’t crazy, her descriptions of her world had been too vivid and detailed for the ramblings of a delusion. It was obvious she was communicating with the animals beyond nonverbal cues and gestures. She seemed to truly care about and appreciate them, enough that she wouldn’t leave them behind, but he suspected that the animals knew that they wouldn’t be enough. Not in the way that they weren’t good enough or she didn’t care for them, but they weren’t human, they couldn’t provide the same way a human could.

Elisa watched Bagheera inspect the man, while Goldilocks simply sat next to her, fixing her feathers. She rubbed aimlessly at the beautiful bird’s head. The man didn’t seem bothered by Bagheera’s approach, or if he was, he didn’t show it. He watched Bagheera, but didn’t make a move, or a sound.

“So… how’s Izo’s injury? It’s gonna be okay, right…” she trailed off. She figured she might as well get something out of this odd exchange with the odd man. Bagheera continued his careful sizing up of the man, but Marco’s gaze shifted over to her.

“The nurses said he should be alright,” he said, “Your work was crude, at best, but I’m sure you knew that. Considering what you were dealing with and the few supplies here, its better than we could’ve hoped. If he had been alone, he wouldn’t be faring so well.”

“Oh… well then that’s good, I’m glad he’ll be okay,” she said, smiling, continuing to pet Goldilocks.

“It’s why we want to thank you,” Marco said, reopening this line of conversation. He watched her hand still on the bird, and the bird’s head moved to look at him. Yea, they definitely knew what he was saying.

“You’ve said your thanks,” she answered him, not looking him in the eye, “I don’t need anything else, I didn’t do it for gratitude or for anything in return.”

“All the more reason to pay you back,” Marco urged, “At least with some food, or possibly some clothes. It might get cold here as the seasons change. The Grand Line’s weather patterns are unpredictable and can be dangerous.”

‘ _Shamu did mention something about that…’_ Elisa mused to the two animals silently, refusing to look at Marco. She had a feeling if she did, any resolve she had would leave her.

‘ _It can get pretty cold here, and you need more than fruits and vegetables to survive,’_ Bagheera said, ‘ _You’ve already lost weight since you’ve gotten here.’_

‘ _Once I get better at making fires, you can help me hunt, and between that and the fish I’ll have protein, so I’ll be fine,’_ she said, ‘ _And I can just cuddle up to you for warmth.’_

 _‘Not likely,’_ Bagheera scoffed, although she knew he was just posturing, trying to get her to go see them.

She was so lost in her conversation with them, she hadn’t noticed Bagheera had stopped approaching the man, simply sitting off to the side. His eyes were still locked on Marco’s figure, but he hadn’t moved in a minute. Marco, on the other hand, had slowly stood up, watching Bagheera’s reaction carefully, Without making any rash or sudden movements, he began to approach Elisa, who was still looking anywhere that wasn’t Marco, her gaze currently locked on her board again. As he inched closer to her, Goldilocks’s eyes also locked onto the man’s figure, but she didn’t move to block him, simply watching.

Keeping her attention so firmly fixed away from him, she didn’t notice he had neared her until his hand gently grasped her chin, bringing it to look him in the eyes. Her own eyes met a pair of clear blue, borderline silver, eyes, and a gentle smile, making her tear up just a little bit.

“Come on,” Marco said softly, “You don’t have to decide yet, but join us for a hot meal and you can decide then.”

Refusing to let the tears fall, she sniffled, pulling her head out of his grasp. She hadn’t been touched by a fellow human since she got here, she had treated Izo’s wound, but they weren’t exactly hugging. She looked at Bagheera and Goldilocks, both watching her, and she knew they would go with her either way. She nodded slightly, still not looking him in the eyes again. He decided he’d have to work on that, getting her to look them in the eyes.

She got up, and they began to walk in the direction of the beach, Bagheera walking besides her protectively, while the eagle settled onto her shoulder comfortably. She was glad Goldilocks was already fitting in so well, and that the beautiful bird was warming up to her faster than Bagheera had, but she supposed it was like the saying, birds of a feather flock together.

“Izo mentioned you already had some… fears of our crew?” Marco led into the conversation, trying to understand her hesitance. He should probably prepare her for their rowdiness before they arrived.

“It’s just that… well Shamu would see you guys when he was out exploring. He said he saw some sea kings killed, and that you guys were dangerous,” she explained. “This was when he was trying to see if there was anyone nearby he could take me to, so that I could leave the island, before I decided that it was for the best I stay here.”

“I take it Shamu is the sea king Izo mentioned? Well, there are a lot of strong guys on the crew, and a lot of us can be dangerous when we want to be,” Marco said, “But Pops is too old to start needless fights, and we don’t usually go looking for trouble. You don’t need to be worried, and we have plenty of space for the others too. The panther’s big, but he’s not so big we can’t take him with us too.”

“His name is Bagheera,” she said softly, “And this is Goldilocks. They’re names from stories from my world. We don’t have sea kinds but Shamu is a famous whale. Bagheera was a wise panther from a children’s story that raised a little boy. And Goldilocks is a children’s story about a little girl with golden hair just trying to find the right fit. Naming them those, just seemed to fit, and it made me feel a little bit closer to home.”

“You’ll have to tell me the stories some time,” Marco said. She made a noncommittal noise, just continuing on the path to the beach.

“Will we get to meet Shamu?” Marco asked, curious about the great sea king. Izo had mentioned the panther’s size being greater than normal, and he could certainly see that, but Izo had also mentioned the sea king being rather large too. It seemed the girl was accidentally making friends with fearsome predators even others of the same species would fear.

“Possibly,” she said, “He tends to lean towards caution. I feel like he might get mad at me for even coming to talk to you guys… But at the end of the day, he just wants what’s best for me, I think.”

“I’m sorry for what’s happened to you,” Marco said, “And for what it’s worth, we can try to help you find your way home, and we’ll do our best to keep you out of danger.”

She looked over at him, smiling slightly, but not responding. Her reasons for wanting to stay and go competing within her. He was being so kind to her, so understanding, and he said they’d be willing to take the others with them as well, but… it would be real. She couldn’t pretend everything was normal anymore.

As they finally reached the beach, she heard a voice call out, “Marco, you’re finally back, Pops wouldn’t let us eat without you.”

“Of course he wouldn’t,” Marco smiled easily, “After all, I brought the VIP tonight. Elisa, I now introduce you to the Whitebeard Pirates.”

Elisa gulped, hiding slightly behind Marco. She had become at least somewhat comfortable with the blonde man, however, the rest of his crew was another matter. They were huge, both in number and in individual size. If she wasn’t sure she was in another world before, she was most definitely sure now. Some of the men were too tall to ever be from her own world. She felt herself tense up in apprehension, regretting leaving the relative safety and comfort of her little cave. She felt Bagheera approach from her side, leaning into her slightly, as if to remind her he was there and would protect her. She appreciated it, rubbing between his ears, but she didn’t think even he could protect her from this group.

Goldilocks used her beak to slightly tap at Elisa’s head, comforting her, before telling her, ‘ _Remember, I have a devil fruit power too, that they don’t know about. I can help buy enough time for you to get away at least.’_

 _‘Thank you Goldilocks,’_ she smiled, just now realizing how obvious her nervousness must be, ‘ _But I’m sure they won’t do anything… right?’_

 _‘Right.’_ Goldilocks responded, while Bagheera said at the same time, ‘ _If they do, I’ll be ready.’_

Elisa smiled again, glad she had them, having no idea how much worse off she’d have been if she had never eaten that devil fruit. She noticed Marco was looking at her, and she finally felt the soft hand that he had placed on her back. When she made eye contact with him, he smiled at her kindly, before gesturing over to Izo, who was alternating between watching her and glaring at the others around him. The pirates were whispering, albeit loudly, to each other, looking at her, at Marco’s hand at her back, and at Izo’s glares. The latter caused them to jump slightly, going back to staring at their food in silence.

“Go on and sit down next to Izo,” Marco said quietly in her ear, “It looks like Izo saved you a spot. I’ve gotta go check in with Pops.”

Elisa just nodded slowly, not really sure who ‘Pops’ was, but wanting to feel comfortable, and sitting down would at least get most of the stares off of her, hopefully. As Elisa headed over in Izo’s direction, Bagheera growled lowly in warning at Marco, gesturing with his head to his hand around her waist. Marco removed his hand, but not before throwing a smirk at the annoyed panther. Bagheera pressed closer to Elisa, cutting off Marco’s chances of contact with her.

“Elisa,” Izo said happily, “It’s nice to see you again. I was afraid once you went into that jungle, I would never be able to thank you.”

“Your thanks aren’t necessary,” Elisa said, “I just did what anyone would do. I mean I couldn’t just sit and watch you die, right?”

“You didn’t do what anyone else would do,” a new voice cut in. A man with a pompadour and a large smile looked at her from Izo’s other side, “Most people would have left him to die, that or called the Marines on him to cash in on his bounty.”

Elisa just looked at him confused, “Bounty?”

“Oh wow, you really must be from another world!” the new man laughed loudly, “I mean this guys worth a couple hundred thousand berries. What do you say, regret helping him yet? Wish you had cashed out when you had the chance?”

“What? A couple hundred thousand?!” Elisa’s eyes widened in shock and fear, her posture suddenly completely straight and rigid.

“Look what you did, you idiot!” Izo yelled, smacking the man, who was still grinning widely, “Now you’ve scared her even more than she already was, how insensitive!”

“Sorry, sorry,” the man said, smile still on his face despite Izo’s barrage, “Don’t worry, Izo doesn’t hurt pretty girls like you, none of us do.”

Before Elisa had a chance to respond, a complete giant of a man stood up from the middle of the group, “Okay, now that everyone’s back, we can all eat.”

“Oh my god is he a giant?” she said, not realizing she was asking the question out loud.

“Oh no, giants are much taller than that,” she heard in her ear. Turning around quickly, she met Marco’s eyes, a small smile on his face.

“I didn’t realize I had said that out loud…” she said quietly, turning back around to face the chaos in front of her. She also thought about his answer, tensing up again, ‘ _Does that mean there’s actual giants in this world too?’_

Izo was chuckling, while the man beside him was laughing loudly, and the other pirates around her were digging into their food. Some were polite and used manners, while others were crazily throwing food and others shoving it down. She looked to the side as Marco settled down beside her, grabbing to plates and handing her one.

“Feel free to grab whatever you like,” he said, “Your pets can have some too.”

His sentence was enunciated by Bagheera making his way in between them, growling in Marco’s direction and settling his head in Elisa’s lap calmly.

“They’re not pets,” she said, a small frown on her face completed by a little glare.

Goldilocks had gotten off her shoulder to look over at Izo, who had hesitantly pet the bird on the head with a small thank you. However, seeing Elisa’s annoyance, Goldilocks moved over to Marco, settling on his head and letting out a loud cawing sound, flapping her feathers and playing with his hair with her beak. When the pirates caught sight of the funny scene, they all began to tease Marco about his relation to birds and ask him about his cousin.

While Elisa didn’t understand the jokes, she could help but chuckle slightly at the sight in front of her. No doubt, Goldilocks was supporting her annoyance towards the man, and she was also helping her feel more at ease.

‘ _Thank you,’_ she said softly.

‘ _I’m not sure why, but his crewmates compare him to birds often and asked about my relation to him when I was first on their ship,’_ Goldilocks said, hopping off Marco and settling between Elisa and Izo again, ‘ _I figured he should learn that we pets are more intelligent than he thinks.’_

Goldilocks began preening her feathers, accepting small pieces of food that Izo offered, who was smirking at Marco. The man beside Izo was once again letting out his boisterous laugh, finger pointed at Marco and jokes spilling out of his mouth so fast Elisa couldn’t keep up with them. Bagheera was letting out a deep, vibrating noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

Marco looked at Elisa out of the corner of his eye, “Did you send her to do that?”

“No,” Elisa said, gathering some food from the piles in front of her politely, some meat and vegetables for herself, along with a slice of bread, and some fish and meat, more on the rare side, for Bagheera, who was watching her hungrily. “Goldilocks did that all on her own.”

“Well, she seems fine with people,” Marco said, narrowing his eyes in suspicion, “She’s getting along well with Marco, and she’s even letting Thatch pet her.”

She looked over her shoulder to see that the man beside Izo, Thatch, she presumed, was in fact petting Goldilocks happily, telling the bird how brilliant she was, speaking to her as if she were a person. She presumed that Izo had informed the man of their comprehension of speech, and it made Elisa smile, knowing that at least _someone_ seemed to understand that they weren’t just pets.

“Well, maybe she just doesn’t like you,” Elisa said, feeding Bagheera some food, “After all, you treat her like she can’t understand every word you say, such as calling her a _pet._ ”

Marco only hummed, glancing at the panther, who was still happily laying in Elisa’s lap, eating the offered food. Every once in a while, though, he would glance over at Marco, a look on his face that appeared to be his own version of a haughty smirk. It would appear that neither Goldilocks or Bagheera had the highest opinion of him at the moment. He had thought they liked him back at the cave, but now, things seemed to have changed.

He tried quieting down the bird jokes that were occurring around him, letting Elisa and Bagheera eat in peace, but the stares and whispers soon started up again once seeing how calmly the panther acted around the girl. She looked up from her food, feeling the stares on her, and saw several men quickly shift their attention elsewhere. Accidentally making eye contact with one of them, she awkwardly smiled at him, petting Bagheera quickly, reassuring herself he was still with her.

“So, girl,” the man she made eye contact with said, “Why is that huge panther just… sitting in your lap like that?”

“Huh?” she responded, hand stilling on the panther’s fur, causing him to move his head slightly to encourage further petting, “Well, we just… understand each other is all. He’s a friend.”

“A friend huh?” the man said, smiling widely at her, “You’re friends with a panther, but you’re terrified of us. I don’t know if I should be hurt or take it as a compliment that I’m apparently scarier than him.”

Her eyes widened, quickly going to cover, “What? No, oh no, it’s not… that, it’s just I don’t know you, and there’s so many of you, I’m just overwhelmed is all. I promise it’s nothing personal against you or anyone really, I’m just not used to being surrounded by so many huge guys. Back home, guys aren’t that big, you know? And like, even Shamu is a little scared of you, so it’s just like-“

She was interrupted by the man laughing loudly, “Don’t worry little lady, we’re not offended.”

“Maybe you guys could try giving her some space to breathe?” Marco said, looking at the men that seemed to be crowding closer around her with each word out of her mouth. They must have been taking it as invitation to start talking to her. “She’s not used to this, so its only right for her to be a little out of her element.”

“Yea,” Izo said, cutting in, “Treat Elisa with the respect she deserves. She is a _lady_ , you can’t just surround her and bombard her with uncomfortable questions.”

“Sorry Marco, Izo,” the man said, echoed by the men around him, “We were trying to make her more comfortable. I’m sorry Miss, didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“Oh no, it’s alright,” she said, “I haven’t been the friendliest since I arrived, so I apologize if I made you feel like I didn’t want to talk to you.”

“Of course not,” he answered her, “You wouldn’t be the first person uncomfortable around us, and you probably won’t be the last. I’m just hoping that changes soon.”

“Well, I don’t know,” she said, “I guess we’ll just have to see…”

At that moment, the water near the ship broke. Elisa automatically knew what it was, despite not being able to see as clearly with the moon beginning to rise and the beach illuminated by firelight. The men watched as the giant sea king approached the shore, some getting up as if to prepare for battle. Elisa, seeing this jumped up, followed closely by a growling Bagheera.

“Wait, no, please don’t hurt him,” she said, “He’s just here to check on me.”

She quickly ran towards the sea king, some of the men trying to chase after her. She heard one yell out, “You can’t just let her go like that, she could get eaten, Marco, Thatch, go after her.”

“Don’t worry, she’ll be fine,” Izo said, but Marco and Thatch still got to their feet to slowly approach the shore as well. The next sight was something to behold for all the of them, including the tall man that had called them all to order earlier.

The tail of the beast shooting out to gently grasp her lifted her into the air, placing her gently on the creature’s back. Her smile was clear to see, shining brightly, as she gently pet the sea king’s back, her voice calling out, “Shamu!”

‘ _I thought you said you were going to stay away from them,’_ Shamu said, an accusatory lilt in his voice.

‘ _I’m sorry, they tracked me down and asked me to join for dinner,’_ she said, ‘ _They said that we all could come with them if we wanted, and I still haven’t decided, but I figured I could at least get some good food and maybe some clothes to help with changing weather.’_

 _‘I see, that is a good idea, but just remember to stay careful, I’ll be here to help should you need anything,’_ Shamu said.

She smiled, saying a quick goodbye, and he allowed her to slide down his tail, depositing her softly back on the sand, right where Marco was waiting for her, Thatch shortly behind him.

A booming voice called out from the center of the men, who were watching in wonder, even if it was the Grand Line, it was still incredible.

“Well, that certainly was interesting,” she recognized the man from before, the one she had thought was a giant, “I guess my son wasn’t lying to us when he said you were friends with a sea king.”

She slightly hid her body behind Marco, the only one familiar to her at this point, while Bagheera curled around her again. She felt Goldilocks land slightly on her shoulder, and she could feel Shamu’s tail lightly touch her ankle in the water.

“Go on you lot, back to eating,” the man called, and the men went back to their previous festivities while the giant man approached her, causing her to tense up slightly behind Marco.

“Don’t worry, there’s no reason to be tense,” Marco said softly to her, looking behind his shoulder at her form, “He won’t hurt you.”

She nodded, but she didn’t move anywhere, instead watching the man’s slow approach. He had wires in his nose, the kind needed for breathing, and his weapon was almost as big as him, a blade at the end that she was sure could slice her into pieces. She noticed Bagheera’s flattened ears, petting his head slightly, and she felt Shamu’s tail wrap slightly more around her, as if preparing to take her away if necessary. Goldilocks simply watched with a quick eye, ready to move at a moment’s notice. She was so focused on the man that she didn’t feel the hand that landed on her head, switching her focus to Marco, who had now turned to face her.

“I told you already, it’s okay,” he said, smiling down at her, “Pops is a good man.”

She shifted her eyes from Marco to this Pops person, who had finally reached them, giving a big smile to Thatch, and then to Marco, and then turning to look at her.

“While I will say caution is probably a good thing, I promise you don’t need it,” he said, smiling at her with a gentler smile than he had given the two men, “I just want to talk to you, we want to help you figure out what you’re gonna do. I hope you don’t mind, but Izo told me about your situation earlier. To be honest, at first I thought he had begun to go delirious from pain, but now I think I have no choice but to believe him. Marco’s belief in you and your story helped with that. So now, the only thing I want to do is at least get you fed and some clothes to wear, and after that we can talk about your plans.”

Elisa relaxed a little bit, and at her relaxation, the three animals next to her almost immediately relaxed as well. She looked at Marco, who only nodded at her, and then looked over to Izo, who was watching them carefully. She saw Izo nod as well, so she turned to the man and said, “Okay, I guess we can talk…”

“Well, come on then, we can do it on the ship,” the old man said, gesturing to the giant vessel.

‘ _If you go on that thing, make sure to stay outside, so I can grab you if I need to,’_ Shamu said.

“Alright,” Elisa nodded, “But can we stay outside?”

“On the deck?” the man asked, “Alright, but it might get cold.”

“That’s fine,” she answered quickly. The man quirked a white eyebrow, but said nothing else. He eyed the sea king and had a pretty good idea why she wanted to stay on the deck, but he couldn’t blame her. She was outnumbered, and her best chance would probably be on the thing’s back, if something were to happen.

He led her up to the deck, followed by Marco, the panther, and golden eagle. Marco was staying close to Elisa, for some reason she had come to feel comfortable around him, and that would be helpful as they tried to convince her to come with them.

“So, what’s your name, little thing?” the man asked kindly, sitting down in a ginormous chair on the ship.

“It’s Elisa…” she said, “Oh, and what’s your name, sir?”

“The name’s Whitebeard,” he said, “No need for the formality though, sir makes me sound old, just call me Pops.”

“You a _re_ old,” Marco interjected, hoping to lighten the mood, “And Pops makes you sound old, too.”

Whitebeard shot Marco an amused look before focusing back on Elisa, gesturing to her two friends, “And what about them? They have names, right? Izo mentioned they weren’t just pets.”

“Oh, this is Bagheera,” she gestured to the panther sitting protectively in front of her. This time he wasn’t even pretending to be nonchalant, all too aware of the power the man in front of them held.

“And this is Goldilocks,” she rubbed the golden eagle’s head that was still sitting on her shoulder. Goldilocks didn’t move, eyes focused and steady.

“And the sea king is Shamu,” she smiled, “And yes, they’re not pets, they’re my friends. I don’t know where I’d be without them, probably dead.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you aren’t,” Whitebeard responded, “If you were dead, there’s a chance my son might be dead too.”

Her eyes widened, beginning to wonder what would have happened to Izo if she had died, or even if she hadn’t eaten the devil fruit and had Shamu. She was lost in thought when the man gently cleared his throat, “Why don’t you go ahead and sit down little one? It might be a long discussion.”

“Oh, right, of course,” she stuttered out, blushing a little at being caught not paying attention, “Thank you.”

She sat down and mentally prepared herself for the upcoming conversation, but she now had an idea of what she wanted to do… she hoped.


	5. Shower Time

“So, you are from another world?” the man asked her seriously.

Earlier, Elisa had gotten the feeling that he was usually laid back, given her observations from earlier that night at the dinner on the beach. However, now he seemed completely different, focused and calm. She supposed he would have to be, considering the ship and all the men he commanded. He was older than most, if not all, of them, and by the wires in his nose, he seemed to have health problems. But, everyone did what he said, so he was probably both strong and respected.

“Yes,” she answered simply. She was past the point of accepting it, and it seemed the question was more for confirmation, not needing any convincing.

The old man sighed, “Well, that’s certainly not good for you.”

“Yea, I guess you could say that,” she smiled sadly, petting Bagheera, who was now laying slightly in front of her, as if placing himself between her and both Whitebeard and Marco. Whitebeard was sitting on a giant chair she was sure was specially made for him, considering most people seemed to come up to about his knees. Marco was standing beside the chair, casually leaning against it, simply watching her.

“I’m afraid I haven’t heard or seen anything that could cause that,” Whitebeard said, “And I’ve been on the seas for a long time.”

Elisa looked down, her eyebrows furrowing as she heard that, she supposed she shouldn’t be surprised. But it is a big world, there’s a chance that he’s just… missed it. She smiled softly as she looked back up, trying to look stronger than she felt, “I see, well, thank you for your honesty I guess.”

Whitebeard observed her, not saying anything else for a few minutes. The only sounds she could hear were the sounds of the large man’s breathing, his size making it impossible to not hear, and the sounds of the ocean waves softly hitting the shore. She closed her eyes, taking in the familiar smell of the sea. It had always comforted her when she was sad. She got a little lost in thought as she remembered the little isolated section of the beach near her house. Whenever she was upset, she would take off there to think, sitting alone and smelling the salty water of the ocean, feeling the breeze on her face and letting it dry her tears. Most of the time, it was Gavin that would come get her after a few hours, especially because it was usually Gavin she was upset with when she went there.

“You’ve also eaten a devil fruit,” Whitebeard said, drawing her out of her thoughts. She noticed Marco was giving her a curious look, but he still hadn’t said anything, hadn’t even moved from what she could tell. She didn’t respond at first, unsure but remembering Shamu’s warnings from when she had first met Izo. Whitebeard sighed before continuing, a joking lilt to his voice, “It’s okay, it’s not as if we would need to resort to throwing you in the ocean if we really needed to kill you.”

Bagheera brought himself a little closer to her, Goldilocks still sitting on her shoulder, but Elisa could feel her talons tighten a little. Elisa sighed, “Yes, I ate a devil fruit. I didn’t know it was one, until I went out on my board, fell off, and then woke up on top of Shamu. I had somehow used it while I was drowning apparently, and he had decided to help me.”

“While I do want to know exactly what your devil fruit does, although I have my guesses already, and I also want to know what this board you mentioned was,” Whitebeard began, “For now, I think it’s better that I tell you that only complicates things.”

She nodded, “Yea, I know. They don’t exist in my world, so I wouldn’t know how to explain how I suddenly can’t swim and can talk to animals. Also, I’d have to leave them behind. You’re not allowed to own exotic animals as pets, I could get arrested, and these two would probably get thrown in a zoo. I don’t even know _what_ would happen to Shamu, there’s no way he could get close to shore without people getting scared and possibly killing him or taking him in for testing. But I can’t leave them alone, either, not after I gave them the ability to think. That would be cursing them to a life of loneliness.”

Bagheera and Goldilocks listened, burrowing closer to the girl. Bagheera appreciated her concern, despite his initial distaste for her, he had grown fond of her and didn’t want to live a life without her now. Goldilocks was still new, but Elisa had noticed how she was ostracized by her kind, realizing she was lonely, and giving her a friend.

“Well, you can figure out what to do about that if we ever find out how to get you home,” Whitebeard said, “After all, unfortunately, I can’t guarantee that we can.”

Elisa’s eyes widened, surprised at the use of ‘we’. She cleared her throat slightly, saying, “I mean… it’s not really your job to, so I don’t have any expectations, and besides I haven’t even decided if I want to come with you. This island is probably the closest that I-“

Marco interrupted her, “You’re coming with us.”

“You can’t just decide that for me,” she said, a little annoyed. True, she had been leaning towards coming with them after seeing the rest of the crew and seeing Izo again, especially since Marco had said she could bring the others, but it still wasn’t his decision to make.

Marco raised an eyebrow at her tone of voice. She had been so wary of him before and now she was snapping at him. Whitebeard let out a bellowing laugh, startling Elisa, who seemed to suddenly realize what she had said, who she had said it to, and most importantly how she had said it. Her cheeks turned a little pink and she sheepishly said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to… speak so harshly. It’s just, it’s not an easy decision…”

She seemed like she was trying to say more, but Marco finished for her, “You’re scared that if you leave, its accepting that you’re here and you’re probably here to stay.”

She wanted to correct him and tell him he was wrong, but all she could do was nod. She had already realized that she might never find a way home, and that even if she did, she might decide not to, depending on what it cost and how much time passed before that decision came. It might be years before she finds a way, and by that point, she might have found people here she cared about to. And there was definitely no point in living her entire life searching for something she might not find and ignoring everything else as it came. Seeing the crew earlier, so happy and surprisingly homey, she realized that she couldn’t just live her life in isolation until she found her way home. She couldn’t just detach herself from everyone and pretend like she was okay being alone, just so that it would be easier to leave. That would just be wasting her life, and besides, it was already to late. She was already attached to Shamu, to Bagheera, and to Goldilocks. She could see herself becoming attached to Izo, and in the future maybe even Marco, or other members of this strange crew. Or maybe it would be people on whatever island she ended up on.

“I’m not an island,” she said simply. Marco and Whitebeard looked at her quizzically, not quite understanding her meaning. She continued, “In my world, there’s a saying, ‘No man is an island.’ It basically means that humans were always meant to be social creatures, we weren’t meant to be alone. Sure, some people are okay with it, but most people require socialization and a sense of belonging. I’ve never been an island, and I don’t think I can be one here, even if it might make that decision easier later.”

Marco nodded sympathetically, “Nobody likes being alone.”

They sat in silence for another few moments, Elisa collecting her thoughts. She had all but made up her mind that she would at least leave the island with them. Although, she wasn’t sure what would come after. It seemed Whitebeard had already began thinking about it though.

“You can leave this island with us,” Whitebeard said, “The Grand Line, and the New World especially, are dangerous places. We have several islands under our protections that would be relatively safe, and we could take you to one of those, or you could stay with us for a while. We travel around a lot and could ask around during our travels about your predicament. We would ask even if you don’t come with us, though.”

Elisa thought about it, once again unsure about her decision. She had never been good at making decisions, always calculating the pros and the cons, overthinking every possible outcome. She sheepishly grinned at him after taking several minutes to deliberate in her head, “I… I think that I would like to come with you, but… Do you think I could wait to make the decision on where I end up staying?”

Whitebeard let out another big laugh, followed shortly by Marco’s chuckle. When the old man had calmed down some, he smiled at her, “Of course. You can decide to get off whenever you want.”

“It’s a good thing you’ve agreed to come, though,” Marco said, a small smirk on his face, “I was worried we might actually have to kidnap you.”

His words had their desired effect. Bagheera had been simply listening to the conversation, head laying in Elisa’s lap as she continually pet him, fine with whatever it was she decided. However, when he heard the blonde’s words, his head snapped up, sending the panther’s glare at the man, followed by the now familiar growl. The man was trouble and he didn’t want Elisa anywhere near him. Marco just smirked back at him, amused, it was becoming fun to tease the panther, and he was sure he could handle it if he did snap one day.

Whitebeard chuckled at the scene. It seemed Marco had already warmed up to the girl and her companions, not completely unbelievable, but still fairly rare. Between Izo and Marco’s assurances, he was sure the girl wasn’t a threat to him, and despite the panther’s growls, her friends seemed content to just follow Elisa’s lead. It was also Marco and Izo’s fondness that belied something special in the seemingly average girl before him, she had the ability to draw others in, a sincerity about her that managed to get even two of his most cautious commanders to warm up to her quickly. It could be dangerous if she had any idea she had it, but he could tell that she didn’t. Although, he could also argue that if she ever discovered it and tried to take advantage of it, she’d probably lose it.

“And, Marco said that they could come with me?” Elisa questioned, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, appearing too scared to meet Whitebeard’s eyes at the request. It would mean more food and she would need more space, so she almost felt a little guilty for asking.

“Of course,” he smiled kindly, “I would never ask you to leave them behind. Your sea king friend, though, might have to fare for himself while we’re moving, but we’ll try our best to accommodate him.”

“Yes, I understand,” she smiled, looking up at him in gratitude, “If you don’t mind, can I go over and talk to him?”

“Yes, of course,” Whitebeard said, watching her walk over to the railing of the deck, where Shamu was already waiting, listening to the conversation. He poked his head up over the railing, allowing Elisa to boop him on his nose.

‘ _You heard all that right?’_ she asked, still holding her hand on his slightly slimy skin.

‘ _Yes, including the kidnapping comment, although I think he might have just been teasing Bagheera,’_ Shamu responded.

‘ _You know, I always thought Bagheera was more the too cool for school type, but he’s easier to rile up than I thought,’_ she chuckled. She had extended the thought so that Bagheera could hear, causing the panther to scrunch up his nose in distaste. He decided that now he would simply ignore everyone, and he padded away to the side, laying down and closing his eyes.

‘ _It’s only because he cares about you,’_ Shamu remarked, although, she could hear the breathy noises coming from him, his version of a laugh she had discovered.

She smiled at the thought that the rough-around-the-edges panther actually had a small soft spot for her, grateful for his place in her life. She turned back to Shamu, pulling her gaze from the panther, _‘Well, are you okay to follow after us… It might be more dangerous for you.’_

 _‘Yes,’_ Shamu said, ‘ _I’m migratory by nature, actually. The only reason I’ve stayed here this long is for you, so having you travel would be better. I can handle my own against the other sea kings.’_

 _‘That’s good, and Goldilocks and Bagheera said they’ll follow wherever I go,’_ Elisa said, ‘ _Well… I guess it’s really happening. I’m gonna get off this island. It’d kind of ironic that the ship you said we should steer clear of is the one that’s going to end up saving me.’_

 _‘Yes, I had realized that as well,’_ Shamu said, ‘ _You should still keep your guard up. While Izo and the blonde man both appear trustworthy, there are many men on this ship. Should you feel the need to get away, I can take you and Bagheera with me, and Goldilocks can follow.’_

 _‘Thank you for everything Shamu,’_ she smiled, nodding her head at both the warning and the promise, ‘ _Without you, I would be hopeless.’_

 _‘Without you, I would still be alone, we all would,’_ he said, rubbing his head into her hand affectionately.

Their moment was interrupted by Marco’s voice, “We’ll probably set sail tomorrow. We can go back to your cave and grab what you want tomorrow.”

He remembered the board she had looked at so fondly, and he figured she might want to grab it before she left. She couldn’t use it anymore, but it would still be something to hold onto as things became increasingly more unfamiliar to her. She just nodded at him, wondering what her new life would be like.

“For now, if you want, I can see if one of the nurses has some clothes that would fit you and we can get you into the bathroom for a shower,” Marco said.

She looked down at herself. She had bathed a bit in the river at least every other day, and she used her fingers to comb out her hair. However, her body could use some soap, and her hair practically screamed for some care. She hadn’t even thought about the technology in this world. Did they have indoor plumbing? It seemed like they had showers, so they probably had toilets… hopefully. Taking care of her… business… out in the wild was something she would definitely be glad to get away from. Her clothes now also looked worse for wear. She’d probably have to throw them out, there were small rips, and although she had also tried to wash them in the river, it didn’t actually do much. She finally realized she probably looked like an utter and total mess, and that all of the Whitebeard crew had met her when she looked like this. She nodded shyly at Marco, who chuckled, probably realizing her train of thought, making her smile turn into a glower at his apparent amusement towards her displeasure.

As he started walking towards a door leading to the interior of the huge ship, she looked at Bagheera and Goldilocks. Bagheera popped an eye open, languidly stretching and yawning before padding after her. She rolled her eyes at his feigned disinterest, maybe she could even give him a bath. She wouldn’t want him making a mess all over.

Goldilocks simply watched before saying, ‘ _I’d prefer to stay out here for now, perhaps I’ll go join Izo and his friend.’_

 _‘Okay, let me know if you need me,’_ Elisa smiled, petting the birds feathers a little bit. She probably cleaned herself, so it wouldn’t be an issue.

Elisa followed Marco into the building, the hallways seeming almost maze-like. Finally, he came to a stop outside a door. He knocked before walking inside what was apparently an infirmary. There were only a few men sitting on the beds, eyes turned towards Marco and the mysterious girl. Rumors spread fast on the ship, even as big as it was, so they were most likely already aware of who she was. The nurse on duty turned around.

“Hey Stacy,” Marco let out an easy grin, throwing an arm around Elis, “Elisa here will be joining us for a bit.”

One of the men gawked, elbowing the one next to him, and they broke out into whispers, gesturing towards Marco and the girl. Elisa immediately felt self-conscious, trying to pull out of his arm. Bagheera, who had stayed in the hall until then, again interrupted Marco, pushing his way between the two before sitting his heavy weight on Marco’s feet, letting out another disinterested yawn.

The nurse, Stacy, smiled at Elisa, saying, “Hello, little thing, I’m Stacy. Are you hurt sweetie? Or did you just need to get away from all the men?”

Elisa looked towards Marco, who was preoccupied trying to pull his feet out from under the sitting panther, who was refusing to budge. She was a little concerned, but she could see the humor on Marco’s, and the other pirates’, faces. They seemed to be having a hard time holding in their laughter, although she could also detect a little curiosity at the random giant panther in the room. So, she turned to Stacy and returned the smile, “Actually, I was wondering if you or one of the other nurses might have some clothes I could borrow… These are all I have, and they’re a little…”

“Oh of course! I can get you an outfit together that I wear on my days off. You poor, poor thing, just let me know if there’s anything else you need, don’t let the boys bother you too much,” Stacy said.

Elisa smiled, more at ease. Stacy appeared to be older, probably in her late 30’s, but her size was pretty close to her own, so the clothes would probably fit decently well. Her hair was in a simple bun, and Elisa was happy she wouldn’t be loaned one of the incredibly revealing nurse’s uniforms. Overall, she seemed very sweet, and Elisa was happy she wouldn’t be the _only_ girl on board.

“Well, actually,” Elisa said, “I’m about to go take a shower, do you think I could borrow some toiletries as well.”

“Oh absolutely, honey,” Stacy said, “Just give me a moment, I’ll go grab everything and I’ll be right back.”

Elisa smiled, before turning back towards Marco and Bagheera, raising an eyebrow that had now laid down across Marco’s feet, and was seemingly taking another short nap. She supposed they were called cat naps for a reason.

‘ _Are you having fun?’_ Elisa asked the oversized cat.

‘ _Yes,’_ was the short response she got. She giggled, looking up to see Marco glaring at her and the injured pirates that were also laughing at him now. However, the glare seemed to lack any real heat.

“Elisa, could you please ask him to move?” Marco said, his voice coming out a little gravelly. She had decided she liked his voice, but his frustrated voice was even better.

“Bagheera,” she cooed, “That’s not very nice.”

A huff was heard from the panther, but nothing else. The pirates watched in shock as the panther seemed to respond to the girl’s words, watching to see what she would do next. She turned to Marco this time.

“You know, you could try apologizing and asking politely for him to get up,” she said, crossing her arms.

“Apologize?” Marco questioned, although the glint in his eye told her he knew exactly to what she was referring to.

“Yes, for purposely teasing him, and _me,_ might I add,” she said, sighing, “I’m afraid he already doesn’t like you very much, and you just continue to make it worse.”

Marco grunted, before squatting down, tapping the panther on the head, an action which received a glare, “Look, I only tease ‘cause it makes you two less tense, you know. But if you really want me to stop, I will.”

The panther considered his words, but he eventually got up, this time approaching Elisa and leaning slightly against her side. Marco took this as acceptance of his words, and then he considered how big the panther really was. Bagheera easily came up to Elisa’s chest whilst sitting down, if he got on his paws, he’d probably be as tall as Marco. His weight was no joke either, his feet had started to go a little numb with the panther’s weight on him. Elisa simply pet the panther’s head, though, apparently trying to ignore the questioning looks of the pirates in the room.

Stacy came back in then, carrying some clothes and a few bottles, handing them over to Elisa, “I put some extra soap in there, as well. You should be able to use it on your panther friend here.”

Elisa smiled in gratitude at the woman, saying a small thank you. Marco bid his farewells to Stacy and the men, and then he led her down the halls again. It would definitely take some time for her to figure out where everything was on this thing.

He led her to a new door, opening it for her and leading her inside the bathroom. It reminded her of the dorm bathrooms at college, several stalls of toilets, several sinks and mirrors across from the toilets. Further down the room were shower stalls with closing doors.

“You can use any of the showers. This is the women’s bathroom, so you shouldn’t have anyone unwanted walking in on you, but I’ll be waiting outside anyways. That way, you won’t get lost on the way back to the deck,” Marco said. “If you’re washing Bagheera, I’m not sure he’ll fit in the stall, but you can move the shower head to wash him in the hallway. Since no one else is here, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

She nodded, thanking him softly, before watching him leave. She set down the things the nurse had given her before making her way over to one of the shower stalls. Deciding to wash Bagheera first, that way she wouldn’t get dirty all over again from washing him, she took down the shower head.

‘ _Tell me what temperature you like,’_ she told him, playing with the nozzles until he told her it was alright. They didn’t talk much while she washed him, scratching the soap into his fur, being careful not to hurt his eyes or get too much water into his ears. She was lost in thought, thinking about all the possible outcomes of leaving with the Whitebeard Pirates. Technically, it wasn’t too late to back out, but she knew she wouldn’t.

‘ _Are you sure you’re okay with leaving this island?’_ she asked Bagheera, still running the soak through his fur. It made her giggle every time he let out a small purr when she rubbed one of his soft spots.

‘ _Its not as if there is anything for me here,’_ Bagheera said, ‘ _For some unknown reason, being with you makes me happy, despite your insufferable nature. And, if I get to bite Marco just once, I feel I’ll be satisfied.’_

She laughed, ‘ _Fine, but if you do, I don’t think I can stop any retaliation.’_

 _‘I can handle myself,’_ he stated indignantly, ‘ _Although, you should probably learn how to fight, at least a little bit. This world is much more dangerous than yours was, and if you’re going to be travelling with a pirate crew, for any length of time, you should learn to at least defend yourself.’_

 _‘Yea, I had been thinking about that,’_ she said, ‘ _I was thinking maybe Izo could help me. He seems like he would be willing to, don’t you think?’_

 _‘I would certainly prefer you learning from Izo than from Marco,’_ he responded, licking his teeth as some of the soapy water fell into his mouth as she began rinsing him off.

‘ _You really don’t like him that much?’_ she said, laughing out loud.

‘ _I don’t dislike him,’_ was all Bagheera said, ‘ _But I do think of you as family, and I must protect you from men.’_

She gave him a quizzical look but didn’t question him further. She wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that, but she had a feeling the panther wouldn’t say much more. After rinsing all the soap off Bagheera, she moved into the stall to start washing herself, making a note to grab animal shampoo and conditioner at the next island if she could. She left the stall door open so she and Bagheera could still see each other, watching him shake off the water. She hoped they had a hair dryer for him. He wasn’t the biggest fan of water, so she was happy he had cooperated with her.

She moved to wash her hair, feeling infinitely better now that she was actually showering. She took her time in the shower, while Bagheera seemed to be napping again on the cold tile. Getting out of the shower, she grabbed the towel and began to dry herself off, only to get wet again when the big cat woke up, stretching, and shaking off the water in his fur. She laughed a little at that, he really was just a big cat after all, before turning a playful glare at him.

She got dressed, running her fingers through her hair, feeling so much cleaner and happier. She wrapped her hair up in the towel to help it get out all the excess water. She turned an eye towards Bagheera again, before walking towards the door.

‘ _Have him come in here,’_ Bagheera said, and she chuckled, having a feeling she knew what he was going to do.

“Marco?” she called out, moving away from the door and back to Bagheera.

“Yea?” she heard his voice from outside the door.

“Can you come in here? I need help with something really quick,” she said. If he had any reservations about walking into the women’s restroom, he didn’t show them. He didn’t hesitate while walking in, and she noticed he had a hair dryer in his hands.

Setting it down on the counter, he said, “I had a feeling you might need this. Now, what did you need help with?”

She just smiled sweetly, “Well, I just wanted to ask if you guys had one that we could use.”

She made her way in his direction, heading over to the sink, Bagheera following slowly behind. Marco nodded, turning around before saying, “Well, if that’s all-“

Unfortunately, his sentence was interrupted by Bagheera shaking out his coat all over Marco, completely soaking his back. Elisa had stepped far enough away to not be hit by too many of the stray droplets and was laughing hard, almost doubled over as the pirate slowly turned around, locking eyes with the panther.

The panther only yawned, nodding at the pirate as if in apology. Marco’s eyes told her that he didn’t believe it was an accident for a second. Approaching closer to Marco, he rubbed his head against his chest, an action Marco had seen the cat do with Elisa a couple of times back at the cave. It seemed to be one of comfort or care, but in this case, it seemed to only serve to get him wet.

“That’s his way of saying sorry,” she managed to get out, giggles interrupting immediately afterwards.

“You think this is funny?” Marco asked. She shook her head quickly, attempting to morph her face into one of sympathy. Marco smirked, patting the panther’s head where he had seen Elisa pet him earlier, adding a little scratch behind the ears as well. Bagheera was surprised that he actually enjoyed the gesture from the man he didn’t quite like. He watched as Marco slowly made his way around Bagheera, moving closer towards Elisa, who was still nodding sympathetically, but also slowly backing away from him.

Her back hit against a wall and Marco stopped right in front of her. He was completely soaked, all of his clothes and his exposed chest dripping water, and she was sure his back looked similar. He put his arms up, one on either side of her head, drawing in close, and she wasn’t sure what he was going to do.

‘ _Help me,’_ she made eye contact with Bagheera, pleading to him. He nodded at her, crouching down as if on a hunt. Eyes widening at the panther’s actions, she cleared her throat, speaking out loud this time, “Do you care if we get water out on the floors and such?”

“As long as it’s not the infirmary or in anyone’s room, this is a ship, we deal with water pretty often,” Marco said, “Why?”

At this point, he was so close to her, he could feel the heat from his skin, but she smirked at him this time, “Because, you might want to run.”

Marco turned to look over his shoulder, not removing his arms from the wall. Bagheera was crouched, butt in the air, ready to pounce on the pirate, and Marco felt Elisa quickly try to escape from between his arms. Grabbing her by the wrist, he pulled her in front of him, her back to his chest. Bagheera stalled, but Elisa quickly said, ‘ _Do it.’_

Bagheera leaped, jumping on top of the two. He didn’t place his full weight on the girl, but it was still enough to knock them down. Although Elisa was now also soaking wet, and Bagheera was undoubtedly heavy on top, even if it wasn’t his full weight, Marco had been completely shoved against the floor, bearing the weight of both her and Bagheera. Marco’s hand had left her wrist to help brace his fall, and she slipped out from between the panther and the pirate, allowing Bagheera to fully push his weight down on top of the man.

Marco looked from the panther’s face, he was once again yawning, and Elisa, who was laughing, but she also had a triumphant look in her eye. He laid his head down closing his eyes.

Bagheera watched the man, realizing he probably could have dodged it or gotten out of the way, leaving Elisa to deal with it, which probably would have hurt her more than it hurt him. Granted, Bagheera wouldn’t have let her get hurt and would have maneuvered to avoid that, but still, he had taken the hit and was now just laying there instead of retaliating. Bagheera laid his head on the man’s chest, rubbing against it again, this time, showing care. Maybe, just maybe, he liked the man a little more than he thought.

Marco felt the panther rubbing against his chest and smiled. He brought his hand up to scratch his head a little bit, knowing the crew would be upset he was bonding with the panther more than the eagle, but whatever.

Their little moment was interrupted by Elisa’s giggling, watching the two cuddle. She had a sudden idea and said, “So, do you think you could help me dry Bagheera off?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading ! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :) Please let me know what you think.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is my first fanfiction I've written in a WHILE (and my first one on this website), and also my first fiction solely on One Piece. This is a "reader insert"/OC?? I give her a name mainly because I don't like writing Y/N over and over so feel free to put your name over if you'd like! This chapter is written in first person, but I might end up changing it as time goes on... Please tell me what you think! Like I said, it's been a while, so I'm sorry if I'm a little bit rusty... Let me know! Thanks :)


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